Blood Secrets
by TheRavynFire
Summary: The sequel to Blood Lies. Chase Morgan thought she was done with danger, lies, and Eric Northman. But she is thrown back into the mix and just when she thinks her world can't get any weirder she finds out about the werewolves. Rated M for Mature Content.
1. Annabelle

A/N: I have returned! (rather quickly I think) with the sequel to Blood Lies! This chapter is short, but consider it a prologue of sorts. It picks up immediately where Blood Lies left off. Enjoy! 

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Annabelle

"_Where is my husband?"_

_This is not happening to me! _I thought angrily. _I am supposed to be done with this crap. _

"I don't know."

The lie came out way to quickly, and my voice was a low angered tone. I felt myself blink in surprise at the ice of my tone. I felt angry, but I was scared as well. I also hadn't even decided if I was going to try and lie my way out of this or not, but apparently my body had made the decision for me.

Annabelle's face fell the minute the words were uttered from my mouth. "Well aren't you a feisty little blood bag," she smirked. "Most blood bags treat me with a little more respect."

I frowned at her. She was the last person on this earth who deserved any respect from me. I felt the energy spark within me as my fists clenched. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it out of this situation alive, but I wasn't going to just lay down and let her kill me. There was a brief moment where she just stood there staring at me with a scowl. In a blur she was suddenly in front of me, her hand wrapped around my throat as she lifted me into the air and slammed me into the wall of the house. I attempted to let out a scream, but she tightened her grip on my throat and all I managed was a gargled cry.

A flood of images rushed me like a tidal wave, all of them of her and Dominic. She loved him, missed him, and needed him. He was her everything and she felt lost without him. He had found her five hundred years ago, when she was just a newborn vampire, abandoned by her own maker. He had taken her in, showed her the ropes, loved her like no other, and made her his queen. A part of me felt sorry for her, that she didn't know that Dominic only cared about himself, that she was probably just some toy of his, a trophy wife. I came out of her brain with a muffled whimper and found her glaring at me, her fangs retracted.

"I don't like liars. I don't like games either. And I am not in the mood for this _shit_," she snarled. "You and your insufferable mother were the last blood bags my husband was with. And what do I find when I come home? My house in complete disarray and my staff slaughtered and my husband nowhere to be found. I can't find your mother and I _want _some answers. I know I said I was only going to give you one chance, but I am feeling generous tonight. So again, where the _fuck_ is my husband?"

I couldn't breathe. My lungs were in panic as I writhed in her grip, trying to find some way to get air. My heart was pounding like a jack hammer. I felt the energy rising up in me quickly, filling me like a balloon. I didn't know how I was going to get out of this. I was alone, with no protector, unable to control my own powers and scared.

She released her hold on my throat just the tiniest bit so I could manage to catch some air and answer her question. I took a deep gulping breath before looking into her dark eyes. "I said I don't know," I answered through clenched teeth.

Annabelle sighed, cocking her head to one side, continuing to glare at me. "I don't have time for this," she growled as her fangs unsheathed again.

The energy in me had filled to the brim and I felt it crackle along my skin as it burned to be left free. I didn't hold back this time, not wanting to wait and see what Annabelle had in store for me. It burst out of me, aiming right for Annabelle, sending her soaring through my porch railing and right into Cassandra's Honda. The car crumpled under her, the metal whining loudly under the pressure, and the glass of the windshield shattering. The alarm set off in a loud blare, honking repeatedly.

My knees gave out instantly and I fell to the ground, weak and panting. The energy had dissipated almost completely, but I could still feel it, swirling meekly in the pit of my stomach. I struggled to catch my breath, feeling as if I had just ran a marathon. I knew I had to get up. I had to get inside where it was safe, I had to call-

_No. _

I wasn't going to call Eric. I wasn't going to go running back to him. I needed to handle this on my own. I needed to do exactly what I had been whining about to him, Connor, and my parents. I needed to take care of myself.

I rolled over to my side, grabbing my keys from where they had fallen. I looked over my shoulder to see Annabelle slowly recovering, trying to peel her body from Cassandra's car. I rushed to my feet shakily, gripping the handle of my door to keep me steady. I looked down at the splintered mess my railing was in and hesitated when I saw it, lying right in plain sight as if it were fate. A broken piece of my railing, looking like a makeshift stake. I needed something to protect myself even inside my house, hell what if I didn't even make it into the house? I stumbled towards it, snatching it up off the ground and running for my door, slipping my key into the lock.

"Oh I don't think so," came Annabelle's mocking voice from behind me.

I felt a hand in my hair, yanking me backward. I was in the air next, landing with a harsh thud on the concrete walkway up to my house. I cried out as shockwave of pain coursed through my body and the broken piece of railing fell from my hand, rolling away from me.

"You don't get to just run inside and hide, you little freak," she continued. The sound of her heels clicking on what was left of the porch stairs filled my ears. She was on me a second later, a look of rage upon her face. Her hand was on my throat again pinning me down to the ground. "Now that wasn't a very nice stunt you just pulled albeit it was very interesting." She leaned her beautiful face closer to mine and her fangs unsheathed with a click making me jump. "What the fuck are you?" she hissed at me.

I didn't bother answering. I hit her instead. I hit her as hard as I could manage, putting every last bit of strength into it as I backhanded her hard. I felt a little telekinetic force added to it, making her head whip to the side. I bucked my body upward at the same time, ignoring the pain that shot up my arm; I swiped away the arm holding my throat, forcing her to roll off of me in her surprised state. I launched my body at the piece of wood, my weapon, lying on the walk way.

"You little bitch!" Annabelle screeched.

Her hand was in my hair again, pulling me to her. I gritted my teeth hard against the pain, keeping a firm hold on the stake. I twisted my body with a scream, lunging at her as I aimed the stake right for her chest, throwing my body weight against it. Her eyes widened in shock, and I heard the crunch as the wood passed through her sternum. Blood spurted upward from the wound spraying me like a geyser. Her face twisted into pain, her eyes locking with mine for one split second before she completely dissolved into a puddle of bloody vampire parts on my walkway.

I hit the cement hard, landing face first in the puddle of gore that Annabelle left behind. I rolled over to my back with a grunt, still panting, my heart beating so fast it felt like it was going to fly out of my ribcage. I sat up slowly after a minute, dropping the stake and running a hand through my hair, dropping my hand sourly when I realized that my hair was drenched in vampire blood. I looked up at my destroyed porch to Cassandra's car and then to the puddle I was sitting in.

_This is going to be a bitch to clean up. _


	2. Abnormal

A/N: Hello everyone! I am back with chapter two. The story will start to veer off from Season 3 a little in this chapter, but either way I hope you enjoy it. R&R!

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Abnormal

I was still lying on the pavement, panting, heart pounding and covered in vampire blood and gore. The wooden stake clutched firmly in my hand I gazed up at the moon, unable to believe that I had managed to survive. I couldn't stop the sense of dread that washed over me. I seemed to come down from the high of killing a vampire and reality hit me.

_I had just killed a vampire_.

No not just a vampire. _A vampire Queen._ She couldn't have come to Bon Temps alone. And surely if she had, she must have told someone that she was coming. She wasn't stupid enough to come without telling someone, was she? She would have alerted the head King or Queen, whoever she answered to, that Dominic was missing and I was a suspect. She hadn't seen Eric, Pam, or Connor, so she didn't know about their involvement. There was just Charlotte and I, and Charlotte was dead so that left me and me only.

How was I going to explain this to Cassandra's parents? I didn't have the money to pay to have it fixed, hell I barely had money to pay the rent. And there was the matter of my neighbors. None of them lived very close, but if they had heard the screaming and commotion and called the cops things were going to get even worse. The vampires would find out about me killing Annabelle for sure and I would be in jail. I had to clean this mess up, quickly before anyone saw.

I jumped to my feet, nearly slipping in the mess beneath me, and ran for my porch. I paused in the doorway, pulling off my bloody shoes so that I didn't leave tracks on the carpet. I didn't want to have to clean inside the house as well. I looked down at my bloodied clothes and stripped them off too, carrying them inside the house and locking the door behind me. I discarded my clothes into the trash can and went for the shower next, turning on the water as hot as I could take it. I scrubbed myself and hair furiously until I was clean. I dried quickly and changed into jeans and a tank top, slipping on my old pair of sneakers.

My hands shook as I retrieved rubber gloves, a bucket, scrub brush, and some cleaning supplies from beneath the kitchen sink. I slipped on the gloves and ignored the sick wave of nausea I got at the smell of dead flesh and grabbed vampire gore by the handful, dumping it into the bucket. Once I was sure I got everything I could by hand I carried the bucket into the house, turned on the garbage disposal and poured in the contents. I poured bleach down afterwards to rid the disposal of the smell and rinsed out the bucket, filled it hot water and headed for the porch. I mixed cleanser and beach with the water and scrubbed away the blood on the porch, hoping that no stains would be left. I turned on my hose to rinse the water and soap from the porch and then wash away the blood on the walk way.

I was almost finished when I heard the sounds of an old engine pulling up to my house. I turned quickly in a panic and froze when I saw that it was Sookie's yellow car. I felt a little relieved that it wasn't the cops or anymore vampires, but I still hadn't wanted anyone to see the mess. I had planned to keep the whole thing a secret until I knew for sure that no vampires would come looking for me because of Annabelle. But that plan had just been tossed out the window.

Sookie climbed out of her car quickly, her eyes locking with mine, shock washed over her face. She walked around the car slowly, her eyes moving from me, to my porch, then to Cassandra's car and back to me. I stood frozen, staring at her as I waited for her to say something. She had impeccable timing. She would pick that moment to show up at my house. I had completely forgotten about her needing my help, and that she had been waiting for me, but I didn't expect her to just show up. She was wearing a beautiful lavender dress with matching heels and her hair was pulled up into an elegant up do. Her face was flushed as she walked towards me, her eyes taking in the site of my porch again.

"My god, Chase," she said looking at me. "What the hell happened?"

I sighed and shut the hose off. I wanted to lie. But I couldn't think of anything to say. I was just going to have to trust Sookie. The truth came out of my mouth bitterly.

"I killed a vampire," I answered with an exasperated sigh.

Sookie's face fell. "Oh my-," she breaks off looking around, before her eyes widen. "Chase, tell me you didn't kill Eric."

I gape at her stupidity and frown. "What? No, Sookie! It was not Eric."

"Well then who? I mean, what happened? It looks like a tornado ripped through here!"

My teeth clench as irritation welled up in me. I suddenly wished I hadn't told her. I was in no mood to deal with questions or details. I just wanted to crawl into bed, forget the night ever happened, and hope there was no retaliation from any vampires.

"Look Sookie, I don't really want to go into detail right now," I snapped irritably crossing my arms over my chest. "I am kinda dealing with a lot here so what do you want?"

Sookie looked utterly taken aback by my outburst, hurt washed over her face next, before her jaw set. "Wow Chase, you are in quite a mood," she replied, a bite to her tone.

"You would be too if you killed a vampire Queen and had to clean blood and vampire guts off your walkway," I retorted angrily.

"A vampire Queen?" Sookie asked, gaping at me. Concern replaced the hurt and anger on her face. "Chase, this sounds real serious. Does Eric know? Is he helping you?"

I huffed. "Eric Northman is the last vampire that I want to see right now. I can deal with this on my own. I just need to finish cleaning and go to bed."

"I don't know, Chase-," Sookie started frowning.

"Sookie, I don't need Eric's help okay? I am trying to stay away from him and believe it or not vampires in general. So if you don't mind I am going to finish cleaning up this mess and attempt to go to bed and forget it ever happened," I cut in, stopping her before she can finish voicing her opinion. "You should also forget what you saw here and go home."

Hurt washed over Sookie's face again and she looked uneasy as she stared at me. I felt bad instantly as I remembered she was having a rough night as well and she was probably only trying to help. I sighed heavily, running a hand through my hair.

"Look Sookie, I am sorry," I breathed, my shoulders dropping. "It's…It's been a rough night for me and I don't mean to be so…rude."

"No, no it's alright," Sookie said shaking her head and waving her hands. "I was just expectin' you at Bill's and when you didn't come I got worried and came to check on you."

_Right, Bill is missing._ "Are the police helping you look for him?"

She looked up at me with tear filled brown eyes, shaking her head. "No, they won't do anything. They don't even care. He proposed to me, Chase. And I didn't even get to tell him yes, I was cooling off in the bathroom and when I came out he was gone."

I felt my stomach sink, beginning to feel even worse. I knew she wanted my help, but I didn't know what I was supposed to do, I had no idea where Bill was and I had my own big mess to clean up, I didn't want to get involved in her drama when I had my own to deal with.

"Sookie, I…" I trailed off. "I don't know what I can do to help you and I _want_ to help, but…I have problems of my own."

She wiped her cheeks catching escaped tears as she nodded. "Yes, Chase, you are right. I'm sorry for just assuming…" she shook her head at a loss for words. "I am sorry."

She turned on her heel walking carefully back to her car. She paused after opening the door, looking at me. "Chase, I hope you know that if you need me I am here," she offered with a soft shrug. "Even if I am dealing with my own stuff…You can talk to me about anything.. You can trust me."

I hesitated, staring at her for a long moment. I didn't feel like I could trust anyone these days. I nodded though. "I know Sookie, thanks," I said softly. "Call me and let me know if you find Bill?"

"I will," she replied. "And you call me if you need anything. I mean it."

There was an awkward moment of silence between us before she climbed into her car and started the engine. I watched her drive off and ignored the mild feeling of guilt I felt in my stomach. Sookie was an adult and she could take care of herself despite what everyone else in her life believed. She would be fine and so would I.

I continued cleaning up the mess that Annabelle had caused and left behind which took more than an hour. I gathered all the wood pieces from my front lawn and hid them in the backyard, swept up all the glass and metal debris from Cassandra's car, and made sure there were no remnants of blood anywhere. I couldn't figure out anything to do with Cassandra's car beside cover it with her fabric car cover to hide the damage for now. I would need to find some way to fix the damage before anyone started asking questions, specifically Cassandra's parents.

I trudged back into the house when I was finally done, sore, exhausted, and dreading work in the morning. I considered calling in, but knew that Sookie had the day off and I was supposed to cover her shift. And with her busy searching for Bill, which could continue indefinitely, that would leave Arlene alone to handle all the tables since Daphne was dead now thanks to Eggs, or Maryann. Sam really needed to hire another waitress.

I could feel a headache coming on while I checked to make sure the house was secured and everything was locked. I went to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water and take a Tylenol when a knock on the door made me hesitate. I immediately began looking for a weapon, my eyes settling on a large carving knife in the dish strainer. It was in my hand a second later making me pause. _Calm down Chase, you can't turn into some paranoid schizo. Not every knock on the door means it's someone to kill you;_ I told myself as I put the knife back and headed for the door. I turned the locks and pulled it open.

"Good evening lover."

I immediately regretted opening the door when deep blue eyes met grey and my heart skipped a beat in my chest. An unwelcome wave of heat rushed through me at the mere sight of him and Eric Northman's full lips curved into a smile the moment I felt it. My frown deepened as I remembered that he and I were bonded again and he could feel everything he did to me. I slammed the door in his face. I was in no mood for this.

I turned to go to bed, not wanting to face Eric now or anytime soon, when his voice stopped me. "I may be unable to come in, but that does not mean that I will not break the door down, Chase. I am only here to talk," he warned.

I sighed and put my head in my hands. _A broken down door would go great with my destroyed porch_. I opened the door and crossed my arms. Eric's smile remained. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"No."

"You are still in a foul mood, lover."

"Stop calling me lover."

"I will when you cease to be."

"I _have_ ceased to be."

"That's what you may believe, Chase, but it is not true."

I groaned in frustration. I didn't want to play games; I didn't want to talk either. I wanted to go to bed. "Look Eric I am not your lover okay? I have had a rough night and I have to work early in the morning, so will you please tell me what the hell you want or get off my porch."

Eric paused thoughtfully, before his face became dreadfully serious. "Sookie tells me you got into some trouble tonight."

I felt my face fall in surprise.

_She what? Damn you and your big mouth Sookie Stackhouse!_

"And by the looks of your porch, the emotions I felt in you earlier, and the cut and bruise on your face I have reason to believe what she says is true," Eric continued turning his head to look around my porch before looking back at me curiously.

I pursed my lips as I glared at Eric, unsure of what to say. I didn't want to tell him what had happened. I didn't want his help. And I didn't want Sookie going around blabbing my business to vampires who I didn't want to be involved with anymore. She was officially on my shit-list and I would have a bone to pick with her tomorrow. _So much for trust_.

"What happened, Chase?" Eric inquired further with an arched eyebrow.

"Nothing, Eric."

Eric scowled. "Do not lie to me, Chase. Your safety is important to me and if you are in any danger I would like to remedy the situation before any harm comes to you. I told you I would protect you and I intend to do just that regardless of whether you want my help or not."

"I don't need your help, Eric. I can take care of myself," I answered crossing my arms. "Now if you will excuse me-."

I attempted to close the door, but Eric's large hand reached out to stop it as he gazed at me furiously. "Don't be stupid, Chase. Tell me what is going on _now_," he ordered.

I jumped at the seriousness of his tone and growled in frustration. I stepped out onto the porch, shutting the door behind me. I was not going to invite him into my house. And as much as I hated to admit it to him and myself I did need his advice on the situation. He could tell me what I should do and if I had done the right thing and if Annabelle had told someone, what I should expect. Eric didn't move when I stepped out and I found myself standing so close to him that we were almost touching. I swallowed hard and resisted the urge to beg him to take me into his strong arms, averting my eyes from his penetrating gaze and moving around him. I put as much distance as I could between us.

"I killed Annabelle," I admitted finally, hugging myself tightly.

Eric's face changed instantly, his eyes widening in surprise. "You did what?" he breathed incredulously through clenched teeth.

I suddenly felt like I had done something wrong, like a child that had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. I launched into an explanation. "She came here looking for answers to where Dominic was, like I said she would, and she attacked me when I told her I didn't know. She was going to kill me. I had no choice."

"Where did this happen?"

"On the walk way," I pointed to the very spot. The water had begun to dry from the warm night air of Louisiana and from what I could see there were no traces of Annabelle left.

Eric's eyes followed my finger. "You cleaned it up?"

I nodded.

"What did you do with her?"

"I put her in the garbage disposal."

Eric looked upset. "Chase, do you understand what you have done? Why did you not call me?"

I hesitated, feeling defensive. "Well…why didn't you come when you felt my panic? Or pain?" I countered angrily. "If you were so concerned you could have come then! Tonight was not the only night I almost died, Eric. That maenad almost killed me and Sookie. Where were you then? Don't get all noble on me now. I didn't call because I didn't want your help."

"Well you need it," he retorted stepping toward me, stopping once he was an inch away from my face. I could practically feel the anger rolling off him in waves. "If she told anyone that she was coming here; if she alerted the authority, they will come after you and kill you without a second thought, Chase. Or worse find out what you are and what your blood can do and keep you alive to drain you whenever they feel the need!"

I jumped as he snapped the last word in my face, attempting to step backward only to be stopped by my railing. I felt flustered. "She was going to kill me, Eric," I repeated again, finding no other explanation. "I had no choice."

Eric growled, turning away from me, beginning to pace back and forth on my porch. I couldn't move. I watched him pace back and forth, while my insides matched his movements. The sense of dread I felt earlier was back full force and I realized that I was in way over my head. Eric stopped his pacing.

"You need to leave here _now_."

"What?"

"You are coming with me."

"Why? I can't-."

"You cannot stay here, Chase. If the authority knows about your involvement and comes here to take you there is nothing that I can do about it. I cannot protect you from _them._ You need to reside somewhere else until I can sort this situation out," he commanded.

"And just where the hell do you expect me to go, Eric?" I asked.

"You will stay with me in Shreveport," he replied.

I shook my head. This isn't what I wanted. I wanted to stay in my own home. There was no guarantee that Annabelle had even told anyone. I was not going to Eric's to hide out. I had a job, friends, and a life that I wanted to get back too. "No, Eric," I said holding up my hands. "I am safe here. Vampires need to be invited in and as long as I am in the house they can't get to me. We don't even know if Annabelle told anyone-."

"They will rip this house apart until nothing is left if they find out you are responsible for this and how valuable you are," Eric snapped through clenched teeth, cutting me off. "And vampires aren't the only thing you need to worry about. They are humans who work for them, Chase, they could take you during the day and I would be of no help with the sun up."

I blanched, staring up at him taken aback. I was in danger, real danger, again. I had thought this was going to be all over, but apparently fate had something else in store for me. I missed the days where my biggest worry was passing an exam in one of my classes. I wished I had a time machine that could send me back to that night when Cassandra and I went to Fangtasia and stopped myself before I ever got involved with Eric Northman; maybe I wouldn't be in this situation now. But it didn't change the fact that I didn't want to run and hide with Eric. I would go on about my life until the situation came back to bite me in the ass, which I hoped never happened.

"I want to stay here."

"_You are not safe here_," he breathed through clenched teeth, enunciating each word as he said it. If I didn't know him any better I would almost say his tone was pleading.

"Look I am not going anywhere, Eric," I said planting my feet firmly on the ground and trying to keep my voice from breaking. "This is my house dammit and I refuse to be chased away because of this stupid vampire mess that I _warned _you about! I don't want this okay? I just want to be normal!"

Eric said nothing for a long moment, only stared at me as I stood there panting after my rant. His face remained full of anger. "You are _not_ normal, Chase," he snapped heatedly. "Get over it already!"

The words were so simple, but it brought a harsh reality upon me, sending a cold shiver down my back as if he had just dumped a bucket of ice water over my head. He was right. I wasn't normal. I was never going to be normal. I wasn't even human. I found no more words to fight him with. All I could do was stand there, hugging myself, gazing up into his icy eyes, my mouth hanging open slightly.

"Stay here," Eric growled. "And hope your stupidity doesn't get you killed."

He turned on his heel without another word and stalked off my porch. I stood there watching him walk off feeling for some reason like the earth had just shattered around me.

* * *

My alarm went off at 6:45 a.m. and I was not prepared to face the world. I sat up bleary eyed and still exhausted. I had tossed and turned for most of the night unable to get Eric and his words out of my mind. I showered and applied make up to hide the bruises on my face and neck. I threw on my uniform, drank a cup of coffee, and took some Tylenol to fight the soreness raging through my body. I headed out the door, hoping my day went by fast. I was looking forward to work distracting me from everything going on in my personal life.

Arlene rushed me the moment I walked through the door of Merlotte's. "Oh thank god, Chase. I was afraid you wasn't going to show up either," she breathed after a hefty sigh of relief.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Sookie has the day off, Sam's gone, and Tara definitely aint comin' in either. Lafayette called and said he is coming in later. It's just me, you, and poor Terry back there in the kitchen," Arlene answered with an exasperated sigh.

_Great_, I thought with an eye roll. "Well what the hell is going on? Where is everyone?"

Arlene's face fell. "You didn't hear?"

"Hear what? About Bill? Yeah Sookie told me he was missing," I answered absently moving past her to put my things in Sam's office. She followed behind me. "But where is Sam? And Tara?"

"Egg's was shot, Chase," Arlene explained, making me pause in the doorway of Sam's office.

I turned back to her slowly. "What?"

Arlene shook her head looking teary eyed. "Andy Bellefleur shot him in the head."

"But why?" I asked walking into the office and placing my bag on the shelf.

"He admitted to killing those girls and attacked Andy," Arlene answered with a soft shrug. "Tara was real beat up over it and Sam, he took off and I have no idea where he went honestly. I am just glad I am not the only one here. We better get to work before the morning crowd gets in."

I watched her walk off looking stressed and frantic, leaving me standing there to process the news. I wrapped my apron around my waist and prepared myself to face a long 12 hour shift. I wondered where Sam had run off too and how Tara was. I felt a little sad about Egg's. I hadn't known him very well or at all for that matter, but I knew Tara cared for him a lot. Bon Temps just couldn't catch a break from the weird and murder. I pulled my hair up into a pony tail and let out a deep breath.

_Here we go_, I thought exiting the office.

By the time 8 p.m. rolled around I was ready to drop. Arlene had barely managed to stay on top of things even with the bus boys helping to take and give out orders. My head, back, and feet were aching as I shed my apron and retrieved my purse from Sam's office. I couldn't wait to get home and crawl into bed. I had welcomed the distraction that work was, it kept my mind off the possible danger I was in and Eric's harsh words. I hadn't thought about it all day. My bed was calling to me loud and clear and it was all I could think about as I walked out of Sam's office and through Merlotte's front entrance offering a half-hearted wave to Arlene.

It wasn't until I felt the warm air of Bon Temps and took in the dark night sky that all the thoughts of Annabelle and the vampire authority returned. The possible danger I was in came to the forefront of my brain and I began to dig into my purse for my keys. I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the tinge of panic I felt deep in my gut, rounding Merlotte's toward my mustang which was parked near Sam's trailer. _No one is coming after you, Chase. Just walk to your car, get in, go home, and go to bed, _I ordered myself. The tension in me eased once I reached my car, slipping my keys in the lock.

"Chase Morgan?"

I froze immediately at the sound of the deep voice calling my name. I turned slowly to see who it was, hoping and praying that it would be a familiar face, but found that I couldn't see the face at all. A large figure stood not too far from me, unreachable by the lights surrounding Sam's trailer. Whoever it was, they were massive and wide, taller than Eric and much more muscular. If it came down to a fight I would stand no chance. My heart rate picked up and the energy swelled within me. The figure took a step toward me and I screamed as loud as I could tossing my purse at the figure before attempting to pull my car door open.

"Hey wait a minute!" I heard them shout before a large warm hand gripped my arm, yanking me backward, slamming my body right into a hard chest that felt like a brick wall. I screamed again attempting to fight, but was stopped by a hand coming over my mouth and an arm wrapping around my waist.

"Hold on I ain't trying to hurt you!" the deep voice yelled. "There's no need to fight!"

I didn't believe them, but stilled even though my heart was still pounding and the energy was rolling through me in waves. I felt the muscular arm around me loosen and I made my move, turning and swinging my arm as hard as I could at my attackers face. The energy burst out of me, channeled through my hand as it collided with their face. They flew away from me, falling hard onto the ground. The energy drained from me and I hit the ground too, the world spinning and shaking around me. I had already been exhausted from the lack of sleep and a long shift, and too use all the power in me had left me with nothing. I struggled to stay conscious, my eyes fluttering.

"Jesus Christ," I heard the deep voice grumble and the sounds of them rising to their feet.

I forced my eyes open and blinked up in surprise at the shockingly handsome face leaning over me. Dark stubble lined a firm jaw and ear length dark hair was a swept in a wave away from his face. Concern etched his ruggedly gorgeous features and deep brown eyes hypnotized me as they gazed down at me. I continued to blink wondering if I was dreaming when his warm hands found me again, pulling me to my feet. My knees wobbled under my weight and I felt myself leaning to the side, almost falling over until my attacker- _wait was he the bad guy? _- caught me again.

"Northman wasn't lying when he said you could pack a punch," he said incredulously, still holding my hips to keep me on my feet. "Felt like someone hit me with a damn sledgehammer. I didn't mean to scare ya'. You alright?"

_Northman? _I tilted my head back to meet his eyes, still surprised by his sheer height and trying to stop the world from spinning around us. "Who…are you?" I questioned.

"My names Alcide Herveaux," he answered. "Eric Northman sent me."


	3. The Bodyguard

A/N: Greetings readers! Here is the next chapter of Blood Secrets. It's mostly filler, but it's necessary! Enjoy!

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The Bodyguard

I couldn't lie and say that the man standing before me wasn't gorgeous. Everything about him just oozed sexiness from his dark hair and bearded jaw, down to his red plaid shirt, loose jeans, and brown boots. The wideness and height of him alone was enough to make any girl faint and I could just imagine all the sculpted muscle he was hiding under that shirt. I struggled to remain breathing as I stared at him. I fought hard to ignore the surprising lust fueled heat that rushed through me as I finally calmed down and the world stopped spinning around me. Alcide was still holding me, his hands on my hips, and my hands resting on his strong forearms. I realized bitterly that I hadn't read his mind the first time he touched me, which made me frown. This was the first time, aside from Sookie that it had ever happened to me and I attempted to read his mind, but found that in my weakened state all I could catch were thoughts and no images.

_Sure is pretty, too pretty to be involved with Eric Northman. I see how she could get into trouble…_

"Eric Northman sent _you_?" I asked coming out of his thoughts and looking up into brown eyes.

Alcide nodded. "Yeah, he told me I could find you here. I take it he didn't warn you I was coming?"

I shook my head.

Alcide growled softly, eliciting a surprising throb within me, and looked down at my feet. "Are you steady enough to stand on your own?"

I looked down at our embraced limbs again, before withdrawing feeling as if my face was turning red. _Was I blushing?_ I forced myself to focus on the situation at hand. Eric had sent him, but for what, was still to be determined.

"What did he send you here for?" I asked, dusting dirt off my shirt and shorts. "Not to attack me in the dark I hope."

He smirked, and I felt like my insides were melting. "No, not at all. I'm actually here to keep that from happening. He said you need someone to look after you."

I frowned and felt my insides stop melting and begin to boil with anger. _He sent me a bodyguard?_ I shook my head. Typical Eric, of course he thought that I couldn't take care of myself. And yes, Alcide was big- _and ridiculously handsome_ – but what could he do against ancient thousands of years old vampires? He was just a guy. Did he even know what he was getting himself into?

"Look Alcide, don't get me wrong, I appreciate...you wanting to help, but I don't think you know what you are getting yourself into," I said sincerely. "And I don't need protecting. I am a big girl. I can take care of myself."

Alcide huffed, touching his face where I had hit him. "I can see that, but Northman doesn't seem to think so. And trust me I know what I am in for. I have dealt with vamps before."

Sookie suddenly wasn't the only one on my shit list. I needed to call Eric and give him a piece of my mind about hiring an unnecessary, albeit sexy, body guard. "I need to talk to Eric about this," I sighed looking at Alcide. "I don't need guarding so you don't have to watch me. I hope you didn't travel too far."

"I'm from Jackson, Mississippi," Alcide replied absently, waving my statement away. "And Northman asked me to look after you until he said otherwise and I have a debt to repay to him so until he gives me the okay to go I am staying."

I raised an eyebrow at him. _Well aren't you a stubborn one_, I thought. "Okay well I am going to go home and give Eric a call and have him tell you himself that you can go home. This is just silly."

Alcide gave a short nod. "Works for me. I'll follow you there."

"Okay…" I hesitated as I turned, looking back at him. "I am sorry for punching you in the face…I hope it doesn't hurt."

He chuckled, deep and sexy, and I throbbed again. "No worries. I have a high pain tolerance."

I smirked as I walked away from him toward my mustang. I turned back to see him heading for a cubed work van parked behind Merlotte's. It was navy blue and had the words '_Herveaux Contracting_' etched on the side. I raised a thoughtful eyebrow as I retrieved my purse and keys from the ground and climbed into my mustang. I started it and pulled out toward the exit, checking my rearview to make sure my bodyguard was following me.

I was still angry at Eric. It seemed I was always angry at Eric, for not loving me the way I loved him, for kidnapping Lafayette, for doubting me, for keeping tabs on Sookie, for not being honest about how he felt about Sookie, for forcing humans to sell vampire blood, and now to add to that list, I was angry with him for hiring a body guard that I didn't need. We still weren't even sure if anyone knew that Annabelle had come to Bon Temps to find me, or if they knew of my involvement in Dominic's death. What was I supposed to do? Make this poor Alcide guy follow me around for the rest of my life, to be there just _in case_ some vampires came looking for me? And then there was still the fact that he was just a human, or so I thought, what if he got hurt or worse _died_? I was supposed to be okay with having that on my conscience for the rest of my life? But then again it didn't make sense for Eric to send someone to protect me, that couldn't actually protect me. He could have some kind of power. Or he could have been a shifter like Sam. There had to be something about him to make Eric trust him with my safety.

When I finally arrived at my house I parked in my driveway next to Cassandra's covered car, allowing Alcide to park in front of the house. I climbed out of my car at the same time Alcide exited his, brown eyes taking in the sight of my house. I blushed again, embarrassed as he looked at it with a curiously arched eyebrow and then at me.

"I got attacked by a vampire," I explained before he could ask.

Alcide nodded and turned his eyes back on the house. "Did she try and rip the house down to get you out or something?"

I shook my head, chuckling softly at the thought. _No, I sent her flying across my porch and then staked her with a piece of my railing. _"No, she uh…." I paused not wanting to get to graphic. "It's complicated."

"I see," Alcide mumbled following me to my front door. "Well I will have it fixed for you in no time."

I paused as I stuck my key in the lock, turning to look at him over my shoulder. "You will?"

"Yes, Eric sent me to look after you _and_ fix your house," he answered. "I'm a contractor."

I had gathered that much from his work van, but I didn't know that was one of the reasons Eric had hired him. I turned the key and unlocked the door, pushing it open, thankful that my mother had cleaned the house spic and span before leaving and that I hadn't messed it up yet. I hadn't had time really. Aside from the porch.

"How much would something like that cost? Fixing the porch I mean?" I asked stepping back to allow Alcide inside. "I don't have a lot of money; I am just a waitress…."

Alcide stepped into the house behind me, looking around as I flicked on the lights. "Northman is paying for it," he answered simply with a shrug. "You must have him wrapped around your pretty little finger, if he's going through all this trouble for you."

I huffed. _If only you knew how wrong you are_. "It's actually the complete opposite. Make yourself at home. Can I get you something to drink? Water? Juice? A beer?" I asked shutting the door and locking it.

Alcide took a seat on my couch. He sunk deep into the cushions from his weight. He seemed a little uneasy. "Sure I'll take a beer."

I moved to the kitchen, opening my fridge and retrieving the last beer from the back of the fridge. I was not a big fan of beer, but Cassandra was. I hoped it hadn't gone bad, but checking the date it hadn't. I reminded myself as I looked at my bare fridge that I needed to grocery shopping. I brought the beer to Alcide and offered a weak smile as he thanked me, opened it, and took a long swig. I didn't know what to say to this man who was being forced to babysit me and apparently fix my house. I wondered what debt he owed to Northman that would make him have to put his life in danger to get out of it, but didn't want to invade his personal life by asking questions. I would much rather call Eric and get him out of the babysitting job. I didn't mind him fixing my house.

"I'm…going to go call, Eric," I said motioning to the kitchen where the phone was. "Like I said make yourself at home and I will be right back."

"Okay, thanks," Alcide replied raising his beer and offering a small smile.

I could feel his eyes on me as I turned and walked to the kitchen. I resisted the urge to look back at him and ducked into the kitchen, retrieving the phone from the cradle and dialing Eric's number. I made a mental note to add 'getting a new cellphone' to the to-do list along with get groceries. My old cellphone was lost somewhere in Dallas. The line clicked and I could hear Pam's voice on the other end, deadpan and sounding bored as usual.

"Fangtasia."

"Pam, it's Chase," I said quickly. "Is Eric in? I need to speak with him."

"Eric is busy at the moment," Pam replied dryly.

I sighed and leaned against the wall of my kitchen. "Well can you tell him this is important? It's about the stranger he hired to guard me," I said irritably.

"You mean the werewolf?" Pam retorted, a bit of amusement in her voice.

My throat went dry. _Werewolf_? "The what?" I breathed.

"The werewolf dear, Alcide," Pam continued. The amusement was obvious and clear in her voice now. "I will be sure to let Eric know that you do not like the watch dog he hired. Gotta run."

"Wait, Pam-."

The line went dead, cutting me off. I cursed softly under my breath and hung the receiver up peeking around the corner of my kitchen to check on Alcide. He was still on my couch right where I had left him, looking magnificent and delicious, and nothing like a werewolf at all. _Great, of course he is one of the most attractive men I have ever seen in my life. Apparently I am only attracted to supernatural men that can kill me, _I thought bitterly. I suddenly felt uneasy as I watched him sipping his beer and looking around my living room. I wasn't surprised that werewolves existed, hell how could I be when I was in love with a vampire, my closest friend these days was a telepath, my boss was a shape shifter, and I was a half witch, half fae (and still had no idea what the hell that was)? What I was surprised about was the fact that Eric had hired one to protect me. He obviously trusted Alcide, despite his lycanthropy. So that meant that I could trust him too. _Right?_

"Right," I mumbled aloud to myself smoothing my hair. "Vampires aren't so bad….werewolves can't be that bad either."

I took a deep breath and stepped out of the kitchen, trying to remember whether or not it was a full moon. Alcide looked up as I approached, his brown eyes locking with mine. "Everything alright? What did Northman say?" he asked, sitting forward and placing his elbows on the tops of his knees.

"I couldn't reach him, he was busy," I answered sitting on the far end of my couch, careful to keep a good distance away from Alcide.

I watched as his brown eyes took in the space between us. His face turned sincere. "Chase, I know you don't know me, but I ain't here to hurt you. I'm not going to bite. I promise," he said softly.

I felt an urge within me and my hands tingled. I had to know if Pam was telling the truth. "Are you a werewolf?"

Alcide blinked in surprise at my question, but nodded slowly. "Yes I am."

"Oh." I couldn't think of anything more to say besides that.

"Does that scare you?" he asked.

I hesitated. _Did it?_ "No not really, I mean I have dealt with vampires and werewolves can't be much worse can they?"

Alcide nodded. "I think me being a werewolf is one of the reasons Northman asked me to look after you. Werewolves are just as strong and fast as vamps, if not stronger and faster. Northman said you could have a serious vamp problem on your hands. Some real old ones might be looking for you."

"Yes, but then again no one could be looking for me," I sighed. "It's…complicated."

"How about the short uncomplicated version?" he asked with a smirk. "I at least would like to know what I might be ripping vamps to shreds for. Not that I am complaining. Vamps and werewolves don't get along. Never have, but the reason behind it might make it a little more exciting."

I took a deep breath and launched into the story of how I got into this situation in the first place. Starting with what I was, my being adopted, my trip to Dallas, then my psychotic mother, my biological father, then Dominic and Annabelle, then Eric, Pam, and Connor saving me, and then finishing with Annabelle showing up on my doorstep and me killing her. Alcide had remained quiet the whole time, a serious expression on his face, his brown eyes fixated on mine. It wasn't until I was done talking that I realized that I had been talking for more than half an hour. It hadn't been the short and uncomplicated version, and I was sure that most of it sounded like a crazed woman's ramblings, but it had actually felt good to get it all out in the open and actually talk to someone about it. I hadn't really told anyone, not even Sookie. I had been holding it all in, but I felt a little better.

"So…now some vampires from the 'Authority' as Eric calls it might come looking for me for killing a vampire queen and I might die…or worse I will be kept alive so they can drain me whenever they want," I finished nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Wow," Alcide said finally looking away as he took another long swig of beer.

"Yes, wow is right," I said with a sigh.

"What I don't understand is, if you have had Northman's blood and all, why he can't look after you himself?" Alcide analyzed.

"He's worried about me getting attacked during the day I assume, or not getting here fast enough?" I reasoned with another shrug. I didn't know the answer honestly.

"Well you are his aren't you? I suppose it makes sense for him to want you constantly guarded."

I frowned. "I'm _not_ his," I said looking down at my hands. _At least that's what I keep telling myself. _"We were…something…but now we aren't. I actually wanted him out of my life, but for some reason I just can't keep him out. But I'm not his. I'm not anyone's."

I felt my cheek's flame as I looked back up at Alcide and found him gazing at me deeply. I couldn't shake the feeling that he was looking right into my soul. I hadn't seen any judgment from him so far, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that he _was_ judging me.

Alcide removed his eyes from me finally and gazed off thoughtfully for a moment before looking back at me. "So the whole witch thing? Is that how you knocked me on my ass earlier?"

I nodded. "Yes, although using that much power will leave me weak. That's only a fraction of my power apparently; my father bound them before I was adopted. He hoped that if I didn't have powers I would have a normal life and never know I was adopted, but things didn't work out as he planned."

"So you can what? Punch really hard?" he questioned further.

I chuckled. "Well it's more like telekinesis backing the punch up and before that I could read minds if I made skin to skin contact with someone."

Alcide's eyes widened a little. "Son of a bitch…"

"Yeah…I feel a little weird asking this, but I told you almost everything there is to know about me…." I trailed off, waiting for his reaction.

"Go ahead," Alcide nodded.

"How are you in debt to Eric?" I asked hesitantly.

Alcide frowned a little and placed his empty beer bottle on the coffee table. "I'm not. It's my old man. He has a construction company in another Parrish. He came up a little short on a project and went to Northman for a loan," he explained, not sounding too proud.

"Oh." I found myself at a loss for words again.

"The only reason I am here is to get my father out of his debt," Alcide continued. "I don't do favors for vamps."

I nodded in understanding. I honestly felt a little bad for him, but he had to be a good and loyal son to do this for his father. And now I felt obligated to get Alcide out of having to guard me. He was _not _just some watch dog. Eric shouldn't have used his father's debt as a bargaining chip.

A knock on the door cut off my reply. Alcide rose to his feet immediately and I tensed. "It's a vampire," he warned looking down at me. He must have sensed something in the air that I couldn't.

"It's okay Alcide," I said moving toward the door. "It's probably Eric."

I unlocked the door and pulled it open. To my surprise it was Pam standing on my porch, clad in pink, and holding a handbag over her forearm and envelope. She smiled that smile that always made me feel uncomfortable for some unknown reason and cocked her head to the side.

"Did you do something new with your porch?" she asked me sarcastically.

My frown deepened. "Hello Pam, it's always a pleasure." My voice was laced with blatant sarcasm too.

"Well aren't you going to invite me in? I would love to see what you have done with the inside," she continued her smile widening.

I hesitated, unsure if I really wanted Pam to be able to come into my house whenever she wished, but frowned when I remembered that she had already been invited in once before. She was toying with me as usual. I pulled the door open wider and stepped back.

"Come in, Pam," I mumbled motioning inside of my home.

She stepped inside, looking around until her eyes landed on Alcide who stood in my living room looking tense. He frowned at her and she returned the frown.

"What are you doing here, Pam?" I asked hoping to ease the sudden tension between them. She turned to me next and handed me the envelope she was holding. "What's this?" I asked peeking inside. She didn't get the chance to answer my question. It was a check, for twenty thousand dollars from Eric. I remembered that he still owed me money for going to Dallas, but it was only supposed to be ten thousand dollars. I looked back at Pam. "Umm…this is way too much, Pam."

"We know, Eric wanted to give you and Sookie a bonus for going above and beyond," Pam answered crossing her arms.

I felt my stomach sink a little. Eric had given Sookie this much money as well? Apparently I wasn't the only one who was in Eric's favor and who he didn't mind giving extravagant gifts too. It only reassured my thoughts that he cared for Sookie. Why else would he do things for her that weren't necessary?

"Well tell him thank you," I said bitterly, closing the envelope and tucking it under my arm as I crossed them.

"I'll tell him you sounded a little more appreciative than that," Pam replied with a smirk. "By the way, he says the dog," I heard Alcide growl softly behind me, Pam passed him an unphased glance before continuing. "He says the dog stays until he can sort the situation out, and if you don't like it, then oh well. Apparently Eric cares for your safety."

There was that sarcasm again. I glanced over my shoulder at Alcide, who stepped forward. "And you tell Northman that when this situation is sorted out and Chase doesn't need my protection anymore that I am done and my father is out of his debt."

Pam rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

In a blink of the eye she disappeared out of my front door, closing it behind her. Of course things were going to continue to go Eric's way; it didn't matter to him whether or not I wanted a body guard, or if Alcide wanted to guard me. I sighed and looked down at the envelope in my hands before offering a weak smile to Alcide.

"Well, it looks like you are stuck with me," I said putting the envelope in my pocket.

"Seems that way," he replied putting his hands in his pockets.

"Look, you can go if you want. I will deal with Eric-," I started.

Alcide raised a hand, making me fall silent. "I want to be here believe it or not. You seem like a good person, and if me being here keeps you alive somehow then I will stay…until Eric says you are in the clear."

I nodded, feeling myself blushing again. "Look if you are going to stay and fix my porch and all at least, let me pay you with my own money. And you can stay here. In the guest bedroom of course," I felt like I owed him at least room and food. He was going to risk his life for me.

Alcide smirked and nodded. "That would be nice about the room and food, but you don't have to pay me to fix your porch. Northman-."

"It's my porch and I will be the one to pay to have it fixed," I said firmly cutting him off with a smile. "And that's that Mr. Herveaux."

Alcide looked taken aback for a moment before a smirk slid across his face. "Okay then, Ms. Morgan."


	4. Lunch and Werewolves

A/N: Greetings readers! Here's another chapter, it's kinda fillery, but here it is either way! Enjoy and review.

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Lunch and Werewolves

When I awoke the next morning it was to a sun filled room. I felt rested and relaxed for the first time in a long time. I was glad to have the day off. I had laundry to do, and grocery shopping, and I needed to buy a new cellphone. And after getting payment for my 'work' in Dallas, I could finally do that. I rolled over in bed and glanced at the clock, seeing that it was almost 2 in the afternoon. I groaned at finding that I had almost slept the day away and climbed out of bed. My stomach rumbled with hunger as if on cue and I trudged out of my room heading for the kitchen, needing some kind of sustenance to get my day started. I knew the contents were bare, but I was sure there was at least some yogurt to snack on and tide me over till I made it to the store.

"Afternoon."

I jumped at the sound of the deep voice, turning to find Alcide standing in my kitchen. My throat went dry as I took in the sight of him wearing loose jeans that hung just right from the hips, a dark t-shirt, brown work boots and a tool belt hung from his waist. He held a cold glass of water in hand and an amused smile on his face, dark eyes traveling down my body slowly. I felt myself blush crimson as I looked down at my body, I was wearing a large night shirt and my hair was probably all over the place. I attempted to smooth it with one hand and pulled the shirt, which reached mid-thigh, down a little more with the other.

"Alcide, I forgot you were here," I mumbled bashfully.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he said apologetically before gulping down the contents of the glass and placing it in the sink. "Didn't wake you with all the noise did I? I got started on the porch early."

"Oh you didn't. I didn't hear a thing…how did you sleep?"

"Like a baby," he answered leaning against the counter. His eyes left my face and traveled down my body again. "You are off today?"

I nodded still attempting to smooth my hair nonchalantly. I was burning under his gaze. "Yes, I just have a few errands to run."

Alcide weighed the thought for a moment. "Okay, I'll come with ya'."

"Oh Alcide, you don't have to do that. I just need to go to the bank and the grocery store and-," I broke off, he looked bored already. "It's going to be real boring for you."

"At least I know you will be safe. I will suffer through," he said straightening. "Eric hired me to protect you and I intend to do just that."

_Gosh he's stubborn_, I thought with a small frown. _Just like Eric_. "Okay well I am going to go get dressed then."

"I'll clean up my tools and stuff from the porch," he replied.

He offered me a smile and I returned it, turning quickly and heading for my bathroom. I hopped in the shower and washed my body and hair quickly before climbing out. I dried my hair and brushed my teeth before going into my bedroom to change clothes. I chose shorts and a t-shirt with flip flops and left my hair down around my shoulders. I retrieved the check from Eric that I had hidden in my nightstand and placed it inside my purse, stepping out of my bedroom to find Alcide waiting for me in the living room. He had changed into a dark long sleeved shirt and had removed his tool belt.

"Ready?" he asked.

I nodded and moved toward the front door, pulling it open and jumping when I saw Sookie standing on the other side, her hand raised to knock. She looked surprise as well, her face falling slightly when she noticed Alcide behind me. I frowned as I watched her eyes linger just a little too long before looking back at me. I felt a sick wave of jealousy rush through me and forced myself to suppress it. _Oh gosh Chase, Alcide isn't yours, if Sookie wants to stare then let her stare, _I told myself bitterly.

"Erm…Hi," Sookie said with a small smile creeping onto her face. "I didn't realize you had a guest."

"Sookie, this is Alcide, Alcide this is Sookie," I introduced motioning to Alcide.

He nodded towards Sookie, extending a muscular arm to shake her hand briefly. Sookie nodded back and turned her eyes back to me, suddenly serious. "I need to talk to you," she said quietly. "Do you have a minute?"

"Umm sure," I said. I looked up at Alcide. "Can you give us a minute, Alcide?"

He nodded again and stepped out the front door. "I'll be out here."

I smiled appreciatively at him and stepped back to allow Sookie in. I closed the door behind her and pivoted toward Sookie, finding her placing her purse on my kitchen table. The air between us turned tense as I attempted to keep the anger welling inside of me down. This was the first time that I had seen or talked to her since finding out that she had told Eric about me killing Annabelle. Sookie frowned as she noticed the look on my face.

"Chase is something wrong?" she asked me hesitantly. "You look angry."

I decided not to beat around the bush and said exactly what I wanted to say. "What made you think you had any right to tell Eric about me killing Annabelle?" I asked crossing my arms.

Sookie blinked taken aback, before sighing. "Shit, he told you?" she said with a frown.

"You told him not to tell me?" I countered suddenly angrier.

"No, Chase, and I didn't tell him you killed Annabelle. I just told him that you had gotten into some trouble, and that you may need his help even if you didn't want it," she explained the frown disappearing and being replaced with sincerity. "I also told him not to bug you and to let you come to him on your own, but apparently that darn Viking doesn't know how to follow directions."

I faltered, feeling a little silly now. She hadn't betrayed my trust completely.

"And the only reason I told him any of that is because I care about you, Chase, and I don't want anything happening to you and I knew that Eric would protect you," she continued.

I sighed. "Sookie, you shouldn't have told Eric anything," I countered. "I appreciate your concern and the fact that you care about me, but it wasn't your decision to make."

"Chase, I'm sorry," she said. "I did it only for your well-being, but if you don't want me to tell Eric anything then I won't."

I nodded and decided to let it go, knowing that she had a kind heart and that she wouldn't do anything intentionally to upset me. It was all a part of her sometimes misguided attempts to help people. Sookie was the only real friend I had left in Bon Temps, or anywhere, and I couldn't afford to start throwing them away. I decided to change the subject, wondering why she had come over in the first place.

"It's okay Sookie," I said offering a small smile. "Did you find Bill?"

Sookie shook her head, the color in her face draining a little. "I found out last night that makers can summon their progenies somehow and Bill did it to Jessica. She took me to the place that he had summoned her too and we found Bill's car."

"Oh no," I whispered.

"There was a dead guy near the car and he had this weird symbol on his neck. Jessica looked it up and it's a symbol for Operation Werewolf. It's some kind of Nazi werewolf thing. He was a werewolf."

I felt my stomach sink in a little. "You mean...werewolves kidnapped Bill?" I asked hesitantly.

Sookie nodded gravely. "I think so. I went to Eric and from what he told me werewolves are territorial and vicious and secretive. He thinks I am stupid enough to go running around yelling 'werewolf' to random people and get myself killed. But I'm not. And I'm also not going to sit around idly while Bill is out there somewhere, and especially not when werewolves are showing up at my job!"

"Werewolves at Merlotte's?" I said confused. "What were they doing there? Are you sure it was one of them?"

"Oh I am sure, he was big, ugly, and mean lookin' and when Terry showed up he bolted and when we chased after him his shoe prints disappeared and wolf prints suddenly showed up," Sookie said matter-of-factly. "They are coming for me now, but I have no idea what the hell for. I just came to warn you, I don't know if you are in anyway involved, you may not be, but please be careful Chase. They might be after you too."

I plopped down into one of my chairs. I needed to sit. This was more information than I needed at the moment. Eric sends a werewolf to guard me from vampires and I find out that werewolves had kidnapped Bill and are after Sookie and possibly me. But I had never done anything to any werewolves, and I barely knew Bill. What the hell would they want with me? It was the last thing I needed to add to my plate. I didn't want to have to worry about ancient vampires wanting to kill me and now werewolves.

I looked up at Sookie. "You need to be careful, Sookie. If werewolves are really after you for whatever reason then you should lay low. Especially if they are stalking you during the day."

Sookie leaned over to the table, digging through her purse before pulling out a small silver revolver. I jumped to my feet in surprise. "What the hell are you doing with that?"

"Terry gave it to me, for protection. And if any werewolves come looking for me I plan to use it and I also plan to ask them where the hell Bill is," Sookie replied putting the gun carefully back in her purse. "He's everything to me and if that means shooting some werewolves to find out where he is then I will."

I admired her passion I could say that. But it all sounded very dangerous to me. My eyes looked to my front window catching sight of Alcide leaning against his work van, talking on the phone. I wondered if he was somehow involved in all of this. What if Sookie was right and the werewolves were after me too for whatever reason, and his plan was to kidnap me? I contemplated telling Sookie that he was a werewolf too, but didn't want her running outside waving a gun in his face. There was the strong possibility that Alcide knew nothing of what was going on and he was here purely for the fact that his father owed Eric a debt and he was trying to get him out of it. I didn't want to put Alcide in anymore danger by bringing him into this new drama Sookie had brought up.

"Oh Chase, I'm sorry. I forgot that your friend was here waiting on you," Sookie said seeing my eyes on Alcide. "I should go. I don't want to keep him waiting."

She picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder; I put a hand on her arm stopping her. "Sookie, I know you care about Bill, but be careful. This werewolf stuff sounds like serious business. You call me if something happens. I will help anyway that I can."

Sookie placed her hand over mine, smiling faintly. "Thanks Chase. I appreciate that, at least I have one friend who understands," she hesitated for a moment as I pulled my hand away. "Speaking of serious business, have there been any more vampire problems from the whole Annabelle thing."

I shook my head. "No, not yet. And there may not be which is what I am hoping for."

Sookie nodded and looked out my front window. "And more on serious business is that Eric's replacement?"

I huffed, gazing out at Alcide thoughtfully. "No. I told you he is just a friend. Eric has no replacement because there is no one like Eric, but you already know that what was going on with me and Eric is over with."

"I know Eric is an ass, and I personally can't stand him half the time, but I think that Eric really cares for you Chase. I can tell," Sookie said looking me in the eye.

_Yeah well he cares about you too just as much, if not more. _The thought was bitter as it rolled through my brain. I felt uncomfortable suddenly and moved toward my front door. "Call me if you have any problems Sookie, I mean it," I said blatantly changing the subject.

Sookie frowned slightly, but nodded following me out the door. "I will, Chase. You be safe and call me if you see anything weird," she ordered.

"I will," I replied locking the door behind us and walking towards Alcide, who was still leaning against his work van.

"It was nice meeting you Alcide," Sookie called as she headed for her car.

Alcide gave a short nod and wave. We both watched Sookie climbed into her car and drive away. Silence hung over both of us until my stomach rumbled and Alcide looked down at me with a smirk.

"Hungry?" he asked.

"Starved."

"Lunch before errands?" he proposed.

"Sounds wonderful."

* * *

Instead of going to Merlotte's where everyone would know me and rumors would be started about the man accompanying me, I suggested we go to Shreveport instead. Alcide agreed and offered to drive us in his work vehicle. The car ride was tense, mostly silent, besides light small talk and songs on the radio. We chose to eat at a small restaurant and were seated by a window. After placing drink and food orders, Alcide ordered a steak to no surprise and I ordered a bacon cheeseburger, we sat there staring at the window in awkward tense silence again. I felt the need to say something. I also didn't know him very well and I wanted to get to know him if he and I were going to be stuck together for an indefinite amount of time.

"So tell me all there is to know about Alcide," I encouraged making him take his brown eyes off the window and place them on me.

He smirked, his eyes dropping as he placed his elbows and forearms on the table. "Well, aside from the werewolf thing I'm a pretty normal guy," he started slowly looking around to make sure no one was in ear shot. "I like sports, drinking a beer or two, I work for my old man's construction company and I live and grew up in Jackson."

A nice, well so far he had been nice, insanely attractive man who liked sports, enjoyed beer, had a job, and was loyal and willing to sacrifice himself for the people he cared about. I could get along with someone like that. It all seemed normal until you went back to the 'werewolf' thing. I leaned forward, resting my arms on the table and lowering my voice so that no one could hear me aside from Alcide.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" I asked.

He seemed intrigued, leaning in closer. "Yes."

"The whole werewolf thing…when you…change is it like…once a month? And is it like in the movies? Are you some huge big human werewolf looking thing?" I asked trying to gesture the largeness with my hands.

Alcide chuckled, coaxing that throb in me once again, how could his laugh have such an effect on me? He shook his head in answer to my question. "I can shift whenever I want, except I _have_ to shift on full moons. And no it's nothing like in the movies."

"So it doesn't hurt?"

"No... Sometimes it feels real good actually."

The waitress appeared with our drinks, making us both lean back against our chairs. She was young and pretty and blonde. She set my drink down in front of me, placing a straw beside it before turning her bright blue eyes onto Alcide. Her smile was wide and inviting as she leaned in too closely doing her best to show off her plump cleavage as she placed her drink in front of him. I felt that tinge of jealousy again, just like with Sookie, and mentally kicked myself. _Stop it, Chase, _I told myself. Alcide smiled politely, but paid no mind to the waitress as he opened his straw and placed it inside his drink. The waitress deflated slightly before shuffling away.

"You have quite the effect on the ladies, Mr. Herveaux," I said jokingly, opening my straw.

Alcide looked up from his drink, smirking as he looked at the waitress off in the distance taking another tables order, before looking back at me. "Who her?" he said with a raised eyebrow. "She gives off the desperate vibe and I'm not into that."

"Do you have a girlfriend? Or a werewolf wife?" I inquired; I hadn't found that out yet. What if he did? Did she know what he was up to? Was she upset about it?

Alcide sighed, his shoulders dropping slightly. "I have an ex-fiancé. We aren't together anymore."

I felt bad instantly for even bringing up the question. "Oh…"

Alcide shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "What about you?"

I sighed, spinning my glass between my hands. "Eric was the closest thing to a boyfriend I ever had, and even then he wouldn't even give himself that title. Guys were always wary of me because of…what I can do…they thought I was a weirdo. Eric is a vampire, but he understood me in his own tortured way and when I was with him it just felt…right. I thought Eric was…" I sighed and shrugged. _I thought he was the one_. I couldn't say the words out loud. It hurt too much to admit it out loud even though I had felt it deep down. "It just didn't work out."

"Sounds like you are still hung up on the vamp," Alcide said prudently.

"It's still….fresh," I admitted.

Alcide seemed to understand, nodding slowly. "It's still fresh for me too."

An understanding silence hung between us, our eyes purposefully not meeting until Alcide cleared his throat and called my attention. "For the record _Ms. Morgan_," he started slowly. "I do not think you are a weirdo."

I felt my cheeks flame, and imagined that my whole face was turning red. _Here I go blushing again_, I thought glancing up at Alcide coyly. "Well thank you Mr. Herveaux."

My mind went back to what Sookie had said of werewolves, how secretive they were and vicious. Alcide seemed nothing like that so far, and I truly didn't believe that there was any way he could be involved with kidnapping Bill. But I felt as if I should tell him that he wasn't the only werewolf in Bon Temps right now, and that they were coming after my friend and possibly me. But what if Sookie had no idea what she was talking about, there would be no reason for any werewolves to come after me. I had never even met one until Alcide, and our meeting had been arranged. I forced the thoughts out of my mind, telling myself that Sookie was overreacting about my involvement. For now I would keep Alcide out of it, he had enough to worry about with the possibility of vampires being after me.

Alcide seemed to relax a little once our food arrived and we chatted consistently between bites about our mutual interests. We had some things in common; enough to make us both feel comfortable with each other and creating a willingness to share things. He admitted that werewolves were normally secretive and that him telling me what he was was a big deal, but I had told him what I was and what I could do and it only seemed fair. I appreciated his honesty and enjoyed his personality, sense of humor, and company. By the time we finished our meal, and playfully argued over who would pay which ended in Alcide winning and paying, it felt like we were friends.

We left the restaurant after taking our sweet time eating lunch and he accompanied me to the bank to cash Eric's check which made the teller's eyes widen in surprise, to pick up a new cellphone, and then to the grocery store where we stocked up on essentials and a few non essentials. Something seemed to shift between us as time went on, friendly conversation turned to playful flirting and I felt my attraction to him growing stronger. He already gave me butterflies with his deep stares, his rugged smile and his infectious laugh. I could tell he liked me as well, at least I thought (and secretly hoped) that he did. But as I felt myself falling for him there was something holding me back. He was fresh out of an engagement from what I had gathered, he was also a werewolf, and I was still in love with Eric. And I wasn't sure I would ever stop being in love with Eric. He held my heart even if I didn't want him to and it all seemed too soon. I wanted to move on. I wanted to form relationships with other people, but the wounds were still open.

When we finally made it back to my house I was hungry again and the sun had set. Alcide parked in front of my house and helped me get the groceries out of the car. We were still in the middle of a heated discussion about horror movies.

"I can't believe you haven't seen The Howling," he said with a frown as he trailed me up my porch steps.

"I'm just not that into horror movies. My own life is a horror movie these days, why sit down and watch one?" I replied with a shrug, shifting the brown bag of groceries to retrieve my keys. "Besides isn't it kind of weird that you like to watch werewolf movies when they aren't accurate?"

"That's what makes them enjoyable, it's funny," he answered, shrugging too.

I chuckled at his logic, sticking my key in the door and pushing it open. I was about to step inside when Alcide grabbed me, yanking me backward. I was caught off balance and fell hard on the porch steps making pain shoot up my butt and back. Everything flew out of my hands sending groceries rolling onto my walk way and I looked up as I heard a malicious snarl. There was a blur and Alcide was flying over me with something large and grey. They landed in a heap on the front lawn and I saw that it was a wolf. Alcide growled using his large hands to keep the wolf on top of him at arm's length, the wolf wiggled, teeth nipping towards Alcide's throat. My face fell.

"Alcide!"


	5. When Werewolves Attack

A/N: Greetings readers! Sorry for my long hiatus. I started school, taking 4 classes and my kids and blah blah you don't care! Anyway here's another chapter. Sorry it took so long. Btw I hate this chapter. It took me forever to write it and I wrote it like 3 different ways and it still doesn't feel right. But here it is none the less! Thank you for all the reviews and follows btw! It is much appreciated. Enjoy!

* * *

When Werewolves Attack 

The energy began to swirl within me as I watched the grey wolf nip and gnash at Alcide's throat, trying desperately to rip it out with its long sharp teeth. The wolf was huge, larger than any wolf I had ever seen on television or in books. Surprisingly it seemed so familiar to me, the greyness and largeness of it making me feel a weird sense of deja vue. It took a moment before it hit me, and I realized where I knew this wolf from. It was the wolf that had jumped me at Dominic's mansion, James.

"Chase, run!" Alcide growled at me looking at me quickly.

I couldn't move. I couldn't just leave him either. He was doing a valiant job at keeping the wolf at bay, but I didn't feel right just wanting to run inside and hide. I went against his orders and jumped to my feet running to his aide even though I wasn't sure what good I was going to do. My body reacted before my mind came up with a plan, swinging my foot forward as hard as I could. I hit the wolf in the ribs, feeling some energy burst from the kick, sending the wolf flying off of Alcide. Alcide looked up at me with wide eyes before rolling to his feet and ripping his shirt off. _What the… _My eyes went wide at the sight of the sculpted muscular body he had been hiding beneath that shirt. No man, whether he was a wolf sometimes or not, should have been allowed to have such a fantastic body.

"Chase get in the house!" Alcide commanded, unbuckling his pants quickly. "Now!"

"I can't leave you out here-!"

"Chase look out!"

I felt a set of sharp teeth sink into my left ankle before I could watch for anything. A pain filled scream sprang from my lips as the wolf pulled hard, yanking my foot right out from under me, sending me face first to the ground. I hit the ground hard and tasted blood as my lip caught between my teeth. I only caught a glimpse of Alcide's panicked face before I was being drug quickly over my lawn, then the black top, and into the wooded area in front of my house.

"Alcide!" I screamed in a panic.

Green scenery whipped past me, forcing me turn my head and protect my face from twigs and tree roots jutting from the ground. I was still screaming, loudly, my hands reaching desperately to try and grab hold of something. I could feel the energy swell up inside of me as my heart pounded and my throat grew hoarse from screaming. I felt something hard brush my hand and I wrapped my fingers around it, forcing the wolf to stop as I anchored myself to the tree root. The wolf growled angrily in the background, sinking its teeth further into my leg as it attempted to yank me free from the root. I held strong, turning to my side and using my other foot to kick the wolf in the face as hard as I could. The wolf yipped in pain, releasing my leg and pawing its face. I attempted to jump to my feet, but my ankle gave sending me back to the ground. I resorted to crawling, on my hands and knees, as fast as I could trying to get back to my house.

"You are really starting to be more trouble to keep alive than you are worth," came a heavily southern accented voice from behind me.

I stopped, turning to see that the wolf had transformed into a man. He was fully nude and had dirt in his dirty blonde hair. His eyes were an ice blue and he had no qualms with the exposure of his sculpted body being exposed as he reached for me.

"No!" I screamed in panic.

That's when the energy burst out of me, uncontrolled and strong as ever. James went soaring away from me, hitting a tree with a sickening crunch before hitting the ground limp and unconscious. I hit the ground hard, the world spinning around me, feeling like I had spent the whole night drinking and had an extremely bad hangover. My head was pounding and I fought against the blurred vision and the weakness, but slowly everything went black.

* * *

"Chase! Chase!"

Someone was shaking me. And I wanted it to stop. It only made the pounding in my head worse. I groaned to show my shaker some signs of life in hopes that they would stop and opened my eyes blinking up at an extremely worried looking Alcide. He sighed heavily once he saw that I was awake, his warm hands still on my arms and his dark hair hanging in his face. He was still shirtless and his pants hung low on his hips, revealing the tops of his boxer briefs, his pants were still unbuttoned and unbuckled from earlier.

"Jesus Christ," he mumbled. "Are you alright?"

I groaned again. "No," I admitted lifting my arm to hold my head.

I looked around and found that I was still in the wooded area near my house, lying on the dirt, and feeling like someone had thrown me at full speed into a brick wall after I binge drank for a week. My ankle was still throbbing with pain which didn't help any of my other symptoms at all. I had never felt this weak after using my power before, but I also hadn't felt that much escape me in a long time, and I was also injured already before using it. I was going to have to get Connor to remove the bond as soon as possible, before it wasn't a vampire or werewolf killing me, but the bond itself as a side effect of using my power.

"Where's James?" I asked quickly attempting to sit up and failing miserably.

Alcide sighed again. "He's dead."

I felt my face fall. "Dead?" I blinked. "What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," Alcide huffed. "I got here and you were knocked out and he is dead over there."

I frowned and sat up on my elbows seeing the crumpled heap of James' dead body by the tree I had launched him at. He was lying on his back, his eyes open in a dead stare. My stomach sunk as I ignored the pounding in my head and sat up all the way. I hadn't seen a dead body since the night Cassandra had died, and that wasn't at my hand. Vampires turned to goop when they were killed but wolves apparently did not, their body and all the evidence still remained, human looking and all. I couldn't believe that I had killed someone, wolf or not, he was still human too, he wasn't already dead like vampires. I had taken someone's life.

"Oh my god, Alcide. I killed him!" I breathed looking at Alcide in disbelief.

He frowned looking at James and then to me. "Look let's get you back to your house alright."

"No, Alcide what am I going to do? I'm going to go to jail! I killed someone!" I said in a panic my eyes wide and watery as I looked up at him.

"Chase calm down!" Alcide said placing his hands on my shoulders, bending so that he was looking me directly in the eyes. I fell silent immediately. "I'm going to get you back into the house and then I am going to take care of this _mess_. No one will know about this besides you and I got it?"

"Alcide-," I started shaking my head.

"Come on," he cut me off as he picked me up from the ground, cradling me wedding style against his warm chest.

I remained silent as he walked quickly back to my house, where my front door was sitting wide open and there were groceries scattered on my walk way. Alcide walked carefully up the porch steps, pausing as he reached my open front door and sniffing the air. I assumed he smelt nothing because he proceeded into the house and set me on the couch. I hissed as my ankle made contact with the couch and looked down to see it was bleeding profusely.

"You got a first aid kit?" Alcide asked taking a look at my ankle.

"Yeah in the bathroom under the sink," I said motioning towards the hallway.

"I'm gonna grab it," he said straightening and rushing out of the living room.

I nodded looking down as he walked away. An uneasy feeling rose in my stomach. I should have felt better at least a little, but I didn't. I was out of danger now, but I felt guilty. Yes James had been trying to kill me, but a lot people seemed to be dying because of me; Charlotte, Dominic and Annabelle and werewolf, both who had died at my own hands. Yes, they all had been trying to kill me, but I didn't like having so much blood on my hands.

Alcide returned having found the first aid kit under the sink in the guest bathroom. He knelt at the foot of the couch, looking at my ankle that had a clear set of deep and bleeding teeth marks in it. He frowned at the wound as he opened the kit and pulled out gauze, placing it over the bite making me yelp in pain.

"Sorry," Alcide said looking apologetic. "It's deep, but you will live. He could have ripped it off."

"Well thank god he didn't, should I go to a hospital?"

"Yeah I'm thinking so," Alcide mumbled, eyes still on the wound, shaking his head. "I need to call Northman."

The mention of Eric made me realize sourly that he hadn't shown up to help even though I knew he could feel my pain and panic through the bond. I was slightly surprised, even though he hadn't shown up when Annabelle had come to kill me either. I wondered why he hadn't. Was it because Alcide was here? Was it because he had something more important to do? _Stop it Chase, you don't want him in your life anymore and you don't want his help, so don't worry or think about him_, I told myself.

"I'm gonna bandage this up for now and get you some Tylenol, then I am gonna clean this mess up," Alcide said snapping me out of my thoughts. "After I am done I will take you to the hospital. Think you can manage till then?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't hurt too much without my weight on it."

I remained quiet as Alcide hurriedly cleaned and bandaged my ankle. He found the Tylenol in the medicine cabinet and brought it to me along with a glass of water. My hands were shaking as I took it from him, thanking him in a soft whisper. He nodded and pulled his cellphone from his pocket as I took two Tylenol. He hit a single button and placed the phone to his ear. He paced for a moment, waiting for an answer, but gave a heavy sigh as I guessed they didn't.

"Northman its Alcide. Call me. Chase was attacked."

He flipped the phone shut and shoved it back in his pocket, looking down at me. "He didn't answer," he said stating the obvious.

"I see," I said softly.

"Are you alright?" he asked placing his hands on his hips.

I hesitated. I still felt guilty. I was still in pain and probably wouldn't be able to walk for at least a few days. I forced myself to nod. "I'm fine…but what are we going to do about James?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that I will take care of it," he answered waving my statement away and moving toward the door. "I'm gonna be outside. Holler if you need me alright?"

"Alcide?"

He paused turning back to me. "Yeah?"

"Thank you for…everything. You don't even know me and…you are going to…" I stopped short, shaking my head as Alcide looked at me with an arched eyebrow. "I'm not sure how I can repay you."

Alcide smiled weakly. "Don't worry about it Chase."

I watched him walk out of the door and sighed putting my head in my hands. I felt weird just sitting there while he cleaned up the mess on his own, but I couldn't even help if I wanted with a wounded ankle. All I could do was sink into the couch and wait.

Not even ten minutes had gone by when my house phone begin to ring. I was about to get up when my front door swung open and Alcide came through, holding the grocery bags with the food we had bought earlier in them. He must have been cleaning up the front lawn before handling James in whatever manner he was going too.

"Stay off that ankle," he ordered heading for my kitchen. I sank back into the couch with a frown and heard Alcide answer my phone. "Morgan Residence." He paused for a moment before beginning to speak in a harsh whisper. I leaned off the couch a little listening intently. Once he began talking I knew it was Eric. "It was a werewolf. I thought you said vampires were after her…She killed him...I'm taking care of it right now...She's fine. She got bit and it's pretty deep, but she will live. I'm going to take her to the hospital…No? Why the hell not? She needs medical attention…I don't know. There wasn't much interrogating done...He was alone and he tried to take her not kill her. He dragged her into the woods and by the time I got there she had taken him out… She's here….Hold on."

Alcide stepped out of the kitchen, phone in hand as he approached me. "It's Northman," he said simply.

I took the phone with a small smile. "Thank you."

"No problem," he said turning and heading towards the front door.

I watched him walk out the front door, closing it behind him before placing the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Chase, are you alright?" Eric actually sounded concerned.

"I got bit on the ankle and was dragged into the woods and I can't walk now, but sure I'm fine," I answered sarcastically.

"You killed him?"

"Not on purpose…"

"Did he say anything of meaning before his untimely demise?"

"Only that I was getting to be more trouble than I was worth."

"Nothing about where he planned to take you?"

"No."

"Did he look familiar to you at all?"

"Actually yes, it was the exact wolf that attacked me at Dominic's mansion," I said quickly. "I thought Pam killed all the wolves and vampires working for Dominic," I said thinking back to the night I almost died at Dominic's mansion. "James, the wolf, was there before you guys got there. He is the one who stopped me from escaping. How did he manage to escape Pam?"

Eric's voice darkened. "That is a good question, Chase, which I will be discussing with Pam later tonight."

I opened my mouth to speak when I heard Sookie's voice in the background of Eric's phone. "That's Chase? Let me talk to her!" she said hurriedly.

I frowned again. What the hell was Eric doing with Sookie? Is this why he hired Alcide to protect me? So that he could go and hang with Sookie while supernatural things tried to kill me? The green jealousy monster deep inside of me reared its ugly head again and my insides boiled with anger. I tried to force myself to suppress it. Eric wasn't mine anymore. To be honest he probably never was really mine. I didn't want a relationship with him. I didn't want anything to do with him, after this whole fiasco was over so why should I care if he is with Sookie?

I heard Eric's irritated unnecessary sigh and the sound of an exchange before Sookie spoke. "Chase are you alright? I heard Eric says you were attacked?" she questioned sounding concerned as well.

"I am fine," I answered through clenched teeth, trying to not let my anger and jealousy seep into my tone. "It was a werewolf, but I don't think he had anything to do with Bill. He was probably after me for Annabelle and I don't see how you or Bill fit into that."

"I don't either," Sookie replied sounding confused. "A wolf attacked me tonight too. I found out that Bill is in Jackson. That's where the wolves took him."

"A werewolf attacked you too? Are you alright?" I asked genuinely concerned.

"Yes, luckily Eric was here. He knew they would come looking for me again. He killed one on my rug, but that's not really the point. I know where Bill is and I am going to find him!" she said determinedly.

"You are going to Jackson? Alone?" I said my voice laced with disapproval.

"No, I was hoping…" she paused sounding hesitant. "Well I was hoping that you would come with me, Chase. I could really use an extra set of ears and eyes out there."

I was shaking my head before I had even thought about it. Who knew what kind of trouble she was going to get herself into by going there to look for Bill. She was going to go and question a bunch of werewolves on her own? Alcide had already told me how secretive werewolves were and just asking questions could get herself killed. I didn't want her to go alone, it was like casting a death sentence on her, but was I willing to risk my life for Bill? But on the other hand if I was still in some kind of danger at least I would be in the last place the wolves and/or vampires would be expecting me to be. There was the fact that I would be missing work again, but with my payment from Eric I could definitely afford it and I would just have to talk to Sam and make sure he understood, which knowing Sam he most likely would. He seemed to have a soft spot for Sookie and I.

"When do we leave?"

"Oh, Chase you will come?" she said sounding excited.

"Yes, Sookie I don't want you getting yourself killed," I said with a sigh. "Plus it may do me some good to get out of Bon Temps."

"Chase, you have no idea what this means to me," she said sincerely. "I plan to leave tomorrow afternoon. We can be in Jackson by nightfall."

"I'll be ready," I replied.

"Great! I will call you in the morning. Here's Eric."

There was another scuffle and light chatter in the background before Eric's voice sounded. "Apparently you have a death wish as well," he said sarcastically.

I frowned. "Sookie can't go to Jackson alone."

"We will discuss it when I get there," Eric replied flatly.

The line went dead before I could respond and I frowned at the phone, hanging it up and setting it on the coffee table. I heard the creak of my front door opening and found Alcide walking through. He shut the door behind himself and let out a heavy sigh.

"James is taken care of," he said coming to join me on the couch, careful to avoid my ankle.

"I don't think I want to know what you did or are going to do with him," I said honestly, looking down. I was still feeling guilty about his death.

"Look Chase, don't beat yourself up over it," Alcide said walking towards me. He sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of me, making it groan in protest. "It was self-defense."

I sighed looping my hair behind my ears. "Alcide, I feel…terrible. This isn't what I wanted. I don't want people or werewolves or even vampires dying because of me. I don't want any blood on my hands."

Alcide's face softened and he scooted closer to me, the table groaning again. His hand reached out and rested on my leg, sending a tidal wave of heat rushing through. I kept my lips together to keep any noise from escaping as my attraction to him flared at contact. He leaned forward looking me deeply in the eye.

"He was going to kill you, Chase. You did what you had to do. Stop worrying your pretty little head about it."

"Alcide," I started with a sigh.

"No," he said firmly shaking his head. "There will be no more discussion about it, Ms. Morgan."

He smiled weakly at me and I felt my lips moving into the formation of a smile. He was so kind and sweet and he made me feel like a giddy school girl. He was like Eric in some ways, but he was so different at the same time, so much more human, even though he was a werewolf. He wasn't cold, he wasn't cruel, and as far as I knew he hadn't lied to me yet. He barely knew me, yet I could tell he cared. He was almost unbelievable, too good to be true.

I decided to change the subject. "I guess you don't have to be stuck with me anymore," I said with a small smile.

Alcide huffed, leaning back and removing his hand as a small smile spread across his lips. "I don't mind being stuck with you Chase, it's not that bad," he answered making me blush. "Besides I will be stuck with you for another day or two. I still haven't finished the porch."

"Oh that's right," I said. "Well I'm leaving tomorrow."

Alcide frowned. "Where you going?"

"Jackson, with my friend Sookie," I answered sitting up more. "She has a vampire boyfriend and he went missing. She thinks some werewolves kidnapped him and she wants to go alone and I just know she will get herself into trouble or worse killed and she needs someone there to help. Plus I need a vacation away from Bon Temps and if there are vampires or werewolves coming here to look for me then it may be a good idea for me to not be here."

Alcide looked flabbergasted, his mouth hanging open slightly. "Do you and your friend have some sort of death wish?" he asked incredulously.

I blinked, taken aback and almost offended. "No I-."

"The new pack of Weres in Jackson are no joke, Chase. They will rape you, kill you, or whatever the hell else they want just for the fun of it," he said his mood changing to serious. "If you and your friend go sniffing around asking questions they aren't going to talk, you wouldn't even make it out alive."

My face fell a little. "There's no stopping Sookie and I'm not going to let her go alone."

Alcide growled in frustration, a deep rumble emitting from his chest. Deep down I was beginning to like that he did that. "Then I am going with you," he said rising to his feet.

"Alcide, you don't have to babysit me anymore," I said with a frown.

"I am not going to let you go into my town, and try to question a pack of werewolves that I know are dangerous without some kind of protection," he countered. "You are going to need an in."

"Alcide, really, you don't have too-."

"Chase, I'm coming and that's that. Besides I live there. You can't tell me not to come," he cut in again in a finalling tone.

I rolled my eyes. _Now I not only have a vampire bossing me around, but a werewolf too._ But Alcide was right, I didn't think these wolves were just going to willingly hand Bill over and if something happened, it would be nice to have Alcide there to protect us. And he could let us stay at his place.

"Okay Alcide, you are coming, but not as my bodyguard, but as a friend," I said firmly. "And as my friend you should offer Sookie and I a place to stay."

Alcide huffed again. "My apartment is kinda small and empty, but you are more than welcome to stay there."

"Well thank you."

A knock on the door cut off his response and Alcide jumped to his feet, eyes darkening as they focused on the door. "It's Northman," he said seeming to relax after a moment.

_How the hell does he do that?_ I thought watching him walk to the door and open it. Eric stood leering on my porch, blue eyes finding me immediately and a small frown crossing his face. My heart raced a little as usual from taking in the sight of him and I realized bitterly that I would have to invite him inside. I still wasn't sure what he was here for, but I couldn't very well get up and talk to him outside.

"Good evening lover," Eric drawled in his velvet voice, his eyes never leaving mine. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Alcide frown. "Are you going to invite me in?"

I frowned. "Eric, will you please come in?"

Eric smiled triumphantly and stepped through my front door, matching Alcide's height and walking toward me. He grew even smugger if possible while Alcide shut the door behind him and crossed his arms, irritation clear and present on his face. Eric was either oblivious, which I doubted, or didn't care. I frowned as I noticed a large blood stain in the middle of Eric's shirt and a small hole.

"Eric, what the hell happened to you?" I asked.

"It was a rough night," he answered absently kneeling beside the couch, inspecting the bite on my leg with a frown. After a moment he turned disapproving eyes on Alcide. "I hired you to protect her wolf, if I would have known that you were going to do such a poor job I would have hired someone else," he sneered.

Alcide's face fell. "I protected her Northman, which is more than you can say. You weren't even here."

_Oh here we go,_ I thought with eye roll.

"I hired you to be here in my absence wolf. Clearly you don't understand the concept," Eric continued icily, not missing a beat.

Alcide opened his mouth to reply, but I cut in. "Okay that's enough," I said holding up my hands. "I am in no mood to hear you two bicker, so just cut it out. Alcide protected me Eric and kept me alive. He did a fine job and did everything you asked of him."

"I wouldn't say allowing you to be bitten was doing a 'fine job'," Eric countered still glaring at Alcide.

"Eric!" I snapped seeing Alcide straighten and tense. "Stop it!"

"If she's so important to you then you should have been here yourself," Alcide snapped stepping toward us.

In a vampire second Eric was in Alcide's face, fangs bared. Alcide didn't back down, he swelled, looking bigger suddenly, the iris of his eyes changing from brown to yellow as he let out a deep rumbling growl from his chest.

"Don't presume to know what is of importance to me wolf," Eric seethed past his fangs. "If she was of no importance to me then you would not be here. She is mine and I protect what belongs to me. The fact that you allowed her to get hurt only means that I should have found a better candidate to guard her in my absence."

"Eric! Alcide!" I snapped before Alcide could make a response. He had swelled even more if possible and I was sure that soon a werewolf and a vampire would be destroying my living room if I did not stop them.

Neither of them moved for a long moment, both of them glaring into each other's eyes, neither willing to back down. I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily. This was getting old real fast. I slid towards the end of the couch and gripped the arm of the couch, attempting to push myself up to my feet. My ankle burned in protest, but I ignored the pain and rose to my feet with a hiss. I snatched the remote off of my coffee table and chucked it at both of them, making them both duck to avoid being hit. Both men turned in surprise looking at me with frowns.

"What the hell are you doing, Chase?" Alcide said stepping past Eric toward me. "I told you to stay off that ankle."

"And I told the both of you to stop it!" I yelled.

The pain in my ankle became too much to bear and it gave out, sending me falling to the ground with a heavy thud. I hissed in pain, cursing loudly as my back and butt met hard carpeted floor. Alcide moved to help me, but Eric rushed past him in vampire speed, reaching me first and lifting me into his arms. I was on the couch in the blink of an eye, lying across it with Eric sitting beside me on the edge. His fangs unsheathed with a click and he bit into his wrist quickly making blood gush against his lips. His free hand gripped the back of my neck, yanking me forward as he forced his wrist against my mouth.

"Hey!" Alcide shouted, stepping forward.

"She is injured and needs my blood to heal before her wounds get infected," Eric said quickly making Alcide halt.

Eric's blood filled my mouth quickly as I tensed in surprise. I swallowed hard to avoid choking and tried to push him away, making him grip my neck tightly and press his wrist against my mouth harder. My options were to drink or choke, and I didn't want to die choking on vampire blood. He knew I wouldn't want his blood, but of course none of that mattered to Eric. Unwanted electricity shot through me and set my taste buds afire, followed by a blaze of heat, the only welcome feeling was the pain dwindling from my ankle, before it disappeared completely. Eric finally released me allowing me a chance to catch my breath. I wiped blood from my wrist as Eric watched his wrist heal over.

"I was just fine without your blood," I said irritably.

"If you intend to foolishly follow Sookie to Jackson I will not have you doing it on an injured ankle that will inhibit your walking and the ability to run in case you are in any danger, which you most likely will be," Eric said matter-of-factly.

"You don't have to worry about that," Alcide said straightening as he looked down at Eric. "I'm going with them and I plan to keep her safe."

"Given the fact that you have only been with her for 24 hours and she has already been injured forgive me for not trusting you to that, wolf," Eric frowned.

Alcide's joints popped as his fist clenched and his eyes flamed. "Okay!" I said loudly putting my hands up and rising to my feet, this time without pain. I felt brand new after drinking Eric's blood. My skin and taste buds were still tingling. "That's enough Eric. If you are done shoving your blood down my throat and antagonizing Alcide then I think it's best if you leave."

Eric said nothing as he rose to his feet and straightened his coat, blue eyes on Alcide. The tension in the room was so thick it was nearly suffocating me. I walked to the door and opened it clearing my throat and calling Eric's attention to his exit. He strolled toward me casually, his eyes not leaving Alcide until he reached me, coming to a stop and looming over me. I did my best to ignore the wave of heat that rushed through me, but couldn't stop the breathless feeling that washed over me. His hand was on my cheek next, his body stepping toward me forcing me backward until I was pressed into my open front door as I tried to escape him. I opened my mouth to say something, _anything_, that resembled the words _stop _or _don't_, but I couldn't speak.

His head bent and his mouth was on mine, passionate and strong. I tensed in surprise as his hand found my hair, tugging and forcing my head back, his tongue going into my mouth, assaulting me with his taste once more. I couldn't lie and say that I didn't miss this, his kiss, the feel of his lips on mine, the taste of him in my mouth, but I also knew he was just showing off in front of Alcide. I put my hands on his chest, pushing against him hard, forcing his mouth away from mine with a wet pop. I looked to Alcide quickly and judging from the utter look of disapproval on his face and his set jaw I could see that maybe the kiss had gotten under his skin.

Eric straightened his jacket again and looked over his shoulder at Alcide. "It is a good thing you are accompanying them, perhaps you will do a better time at protecting her this time around," he commented. "Return her and Sookie to Bon Temps unharmed and not only will I release your father from his debt, but you'll be compensated."

"I don't want your money Northman," Alcide retorted. "I am going with Chase to keep her alive because I consider her a friend."

Eric's face was blank. "How sentimental," he replied sarcastically. He turned his attention back to me and his expression turned serious. "Be careful, Lover," he said softly. "I will not be near with my blood to heal you if something were to happen."

He didn't give me a chance to answer before he was gone, rushing off to wherever he was going in vampire speed. I shut the door behind him and turned to Alcide who still looked tense. I didn't really know what to say, or how to apologize for Eric. I didn't think he wanted to hear my apologies anyway.

"Well," I said with a heavy sigh and forced smile. "Guess I should get packing huh?"


	6. Jackson

A/N: Hello Readers! Hopefully you are still reading. I apologize for my long hiatus and I am not even going to bore you with excuses! Here is another chapter (It's kind of filler, but an update none the less). More will follow- I promise. R&R. 

* * *

Jackson

My alarm went off the next morning, waking me at 9:00. I rolled over groggily, slamming my hand down on top of the clock to make the horrific noises it was making cease. I considered staying in bed and hiding from the world. It seemed my bed was the only place that I had silence, peace, and it had been vampire free for a long time. I could stay in my bed and just lay there until the whole mess was over and everyone was convinced I didn't exist anymore.

But I knew I couldn't do that. I had a lot to do. I still needed to let Sam know that I was going to Jackson with Sookie and he would be short not just one, but two waitresses. I hoped that I would still have my job when I got back, but with over nineteen thousand dollars sitting in my new checking account I could stand to miss some work. I sat up slowly, pushing my crazed bed hair out of my face and sighing heavily as my eyes fell on the packed duffel bag sitting at the foot of my bed.

We didn't plan to leave for Jackson until afternoon, but I had used packing as an excuse to get away from Alcide last night after Eric's stupid stunts. I could still feel the tension in the room long after the vampire left. When I had called Sookie last night to let her know that Alcide was accompanying us to Jackson and giving us a place to stay she had mentioned that Eggs' funeral was this morning and she not only was paying, but that of course she planned to go. It gave me plenty of time to get what I needed to do, done and absorb the fact that I was leaving Bon Temps again. The last time I had left Bon Temps it had not gone so well and I only hoped that this trip would go a lot better.

I regretfully rolled out of my bed and felt my stomach growl in response. Breakfast sounded like a really good idea. I moved to make my way to the kitchen, but stopped when I remembered that I was not alone in my house. I looked down at my night shirt and touched my crazy hair before making a beeline straight for the bathroom connected to my bedroom. I combed my hair and brushed my teeth quickly before changing into a tank top and my sweats. After making sure that I looked presentable and didn't have horrible morning breath I exited my bedroom, blinking in surprise when the smell of bacon assaulted my senses in the hallway. I heard sounds in the kitchen and padded down the hallway slowly, pausing in the doorway of my kitchen.

Alcide stood at the stove, scrambling eggs in a pan, his hair slightly tussled from sleep, clad in jeans and a dark long sleeved shirt. He looked over his shoulder at me once he felt my presence offering a weak smile. The tension was back in the air again suddenly and I felt uneasy. I smiled in return, trying to force the weird feeling away.

"Good morning," I said leaning against the door jamb.

"Morning," he replied turning back to his eggs. "I hope you don't mind I made coffee and something to eat."

I shook my head, waving his statement away. "No, not at all. I told you to make yourself at home."

"I made some for you too," he continued. "The eggs are almost done. I hope you like em' scrambled."

"I love them scrambled," I replied moving into the kitchen.

I slipped past him opening the cabinet to retrieve a coffee cup. I poured myself a cup and added creamer before leaning against the counter and taking in the sight of Alcide's large and muscular shoulders hiding behind the dark material. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know if I should apologize for Eric's antics or not, did he really care? We really didn't know each other that well so wouldn't it make me a fool to think that he liked me and was jealous of the kiss? He was a nice guy, so I could be mistaking his kindness for attraction to me.

"Look about last night," I start already kicking myself because I knew it would end up awkward. Alcide paused in his egg scrambling and looked over his shoulder at me, one eyebrow slightly arched. "The whole thing with Eric…the kiss thing-."

"Don't worry about it, Chase, it's none of my business," he cut me off quickly, turning back to his eggs.

I felt a pang in my heart and my face fell. "Well I feel like I should apologi-."

"Don't," he said turning off the stove and moving the frying pan to a different burner. He avoided eye contact with me as he began opening cabinets probably in search of plates. "Like I said it's none of my business."

I deflated, feeling silly, and wishing that I had ignored it. "Okay."

I retreated from the kitchen with my head down and my cheeks flaming. I ended up at my coffee table, holding my warm mug. I felt silly for assuming that he would even care about the kiss and for bringing it up. When he came out of the kitchen carrying two hot plates of food I forced a smile onto my face and tried shake the feeling of tension in the air. Alcide set the steaming plate in front of me along with a fork. I looked down to find that he had not only made eggs, but bacon and toast as well. My stomach growled in response. I hadn't had a home cooked meal in god knows how long.

"Thank you Alcide," I said as I grabbed my fork ready to dig in.

"No problem," he replied coolly, sitting opposite me.

We took our first bites in silence. It wasn't until I was nearly done with my food that Alcide, finished with his food, cleared his throat and spoke. "So what's the deal with this Sookie chick anyway?"

I looked up at him, dropping my fork, unable to help but think: _I would like to know the same thing. _"Her boyfriend, Bill, was kidnapped. I guess she was attacked by a werewolf and when she read his mind-."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, read his mind?" Alcide cut in raising a hand. "What do you mean?"

I blinked. "Sookie's a telepath. She can read people's minds."

Alcide looked completely surprised and disbelieving for a moment before he shook his head and crossed his arms. "Well if you can do…whatever it is that you do then I shouldn't be that surprised," he said incredulously. "Go on."

"Well from reading the werewolf's mind she thinks that he is in Jackson somewhere," I continued with a sigh. "So she wants to go down there and look for more werewolves to read their minds and find Bill I'm guessing. But…Sookie is a magnet for trouble…and she is also my only friend which is why I can't let her go alone…not to mention it might do me some good to get out of Bon Temps."

Alcide nodded as he soaked in all the information. "How does she know Eric?" he questioned further.

I took a deep breath. "She knows Eric through Bill… I think."

"Bill and Eric close? Is that why he is willing to pay me to protect her too? I mean wasn't he with her last night while you were being attacked?"

There was a nasty pang in my heart as he asked. I wished that was just the reason. "Yes he was and….Eric and Bill can't stand each other honestly…I think the reason that he is willing to pay you and the reason that he was with her is because…" I swallowed the hard lump that formed in my throat and paused. I hadn't said these words aloud. They had only been in my thoughts. Alcide leaned forward intrigued, one eyebrow going up in anticipation. "I think it's because he's in love with her."

Alcide looked genuinely surprised, then confused. He shifted in his seat and placed his elbows on the table. "But…the way he kissed you last night-."

"Eric likes things that are valuable," I cut in shaking my head. "He's also possessive. I'm not foolish to think that just because he hires people to protect me or that he and I had a thing, that he's in love with me. I really think that the only reason he went after me was because of my talents…and that the only reason he doesn't have Sookie is because she was already claimed by Bill."

Alcide blinked, still looking confused and surprised. "So you guys got some kind of love triangle thing going on with Northman?" he questioned.

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. "I don't know how Sookie feels toward Eric. I just know how I think that Eric feels."

"How can you still be friends with her if you think that the guy you have a thing for is in love with her?" Alcide probed.

I shook my head and frowned. "Eric and I don't have a thing anymore….And Sookie has never done anything, but been there for me. She can't help how Eric feels about her. She is the only friend that I have since Cassandra died…. and I am not going to let Eric take everything from me."

Alcide nodded in understand, pausing for a long moment. "That Eric Northman is a real prick," he said staring off in thought.

I huffed. "Tell me about it."

"You deserve better, Chase," he said surprising me as he looked at me seriously. "You shouldn't let him toy with you."

"Trust me I know Alcide," I said with a heavy sigh dropping my fork.

* * *

We finished our breakfast in near silence. Once I had switched the subject, Alcide seemed to catch on and we suddenly were talking about horror movies again. The more we talked the tension in the air seemed to lift and things felt friendly between us again. He entertained me with some stories and I listened, but in the back of my mind I couldn't stop thinking about Eric. Alcide was right, I did deserve better and I shouldn't allow him to toy around with me. I wanted to move on for real this time. I didn't want to wait in Sookie's shadow or be placed on the back burner for her anymore. I needed to cut all ties with Eric off. I needed to finally be rid of him so I could get back to some sort of normalcy and start relationships with other men that would actually treat me with the respect that I deserved and who would actually return the love that I had for him. Someone that I could live in the light with and not just the dark. Once I helped Sookie out of her mess and returned to Jackson I was going to change things. I was going to get my life back.

An hour passed of Alcide and I talking before I finally left the table to get ready. Once in my room I hesitantly phoned Sam and got no answer. I didn't like leaving town without actually speaking to him, but I left him a detailed message apologizing for not being able to come to work and also not being able to let him know when I would return. I hoped that he would understand.

I went to shower and get dressed for the trip. I was a little nervous, but also excited to get away. By the time I had made it out of the shower, dressed in a black t-shirt and shorts, and double checked that everything was packed Alcide was sitting on the couch with his own duffel waiting for me. I locked all the doors and made sure the house was secure before climbing into Alcide's work truck with him, giving him directions to Sookie's house. She was sitting on her porch waiting for us when Alcide pulled up. She smiled widely at me and jumped to her feet grabbing her bag as I climbed out to greet her.

"Hey Sookie," I waved as she came down the steps.

"Hey Chase," she replied. "Hello Alcide. Thank you for coming with us to Jackson. I really appreciate it."

Alcide waved her statement away. "No problem. If we want to reach Jackson by nightfall, we better hurry."

Sookie nodded, handing Alcide her duffel bag which he put in the back of the truck. We climbed into the car, with me taking the middle spot for an opportunity to be closer to Alcide, and also keep Sookie from him. Alcide turned the truck around and headed for Jackson. My stomach felt slightly uneasy as I saw the "Leaving Bon Temps, Thanks for stopping by!" sign, but I took a deep breath and forced it down.

Sookie turned towards Alcide leaning forward slightly to see his face. "Alcide, are the werewolves in Jackson friends of yours? Do you know where to find them?"

Alcide huffed, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. "The wolves you are referring too? No. I know of them cause…" he took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. "My ex is banging their leader."

I swallowed hard looking at Alcide in surprise. His jaw had tightened and I could see clearly it was a touchy subject for him. I was also surprised that he hadn't mentioned this earlier.

"Oh…" was all Sookie could manage to say.

"Besides, you guys aren't getting anywhere without an in. The pack is sniffing around and without me around you guys would…" he shook his head as he broke off. "Well nothing good would happen to you guys. That pack is a cancer to our kind. Weres have lived in Jackson for almost two hundred years without a single human knowing it. Now, these sons of bitches come to town and there's a crime streak a mile wide. I'd hate for you to be one of the numerous amount of women that go missing nowadays." He took his eyes off the road as he said it, looking me right in the eye, and I suddenly got the feeling that he was only talking to me. My cheeks flamed and I looked away from him at Sookie who was staring at us both with one slightly arched eyebrow.

"Well Alcide I hope you know how much this means to me," Sookie said sincerely. "Bill is…everything to me…"

"You're welcome, Sookie," Alcide said absently. "I just hope you know how dangerous this is going to be."

Sookie leaned back into the leather seat, that determined look she got whenever she was going to do something stupid, but didn't care, coming over her face. "Danger doesn't scare me when it comes to the man that I love. They took something from me and I was raised to fight back, and I plan to do just that to get Bill back," she said softly.

Alcide glanced at me sideways, all I could do was shrug.

* * *

"Chase, wake up."

My eyes snapped open quickly at the sound of Sookie's voice and looked around, finding that I was still in Alcide's work truck. My head was resting against Alcide's firm muscular shoulder and the woodsy smell of his cologne was wafting into my noise. I realized embarrassingly that some drool had trickled out of my mouth during my sleeping creating a small dot of a wet spot on the material of his shirt. My cheeks flamed as I sat up, wiping my mouth and blushing crimson as I looked at him bashfully.

"Oh Alcide I am so sorry, why didn't you push me off or something?" I said.

"It's no big deal, Chase," he shrugged wiping at my drool spot with his hand. "Seemed like you were sleeping good."

I smiled at him weakly as my eyes took in the rest of my surroundings. Night had fallen and after more inspection I found that we were parked in the parking lot of a bar named Lou Pine's. I huffed at the humor in the name and immediately knew where we were. It was a werewolf bar.

"We couldn't stop at your place first?" I asked looking at Alcide. I had a lot of skin exposed with only my shorts and black tee on. I definitely did not want to get any werewolf thoughts in my head unlike Sookie. I was hoping to change before we went looking for dangerous werewolves to question.

"I was planning to but Sookie here insisted," Alcide said motioning to Sookie.

"I am not here to mess around. I do not want to waste any time finding Bill. I will go inside by myself if you two want to go back to Alcide's. Just give me your address Alcide and I will find my way after," she said crossing her arms, her accent thicker than usual.

"Whoa there little lady," Alcide replied raising his hands. "You definitely aren't going in there alone. You wouldn't make it past the damn door."

I nodded in agreement. "I am not letting you go anywhere alone, Sookie. I didn't come to Jackson to hang out at Alcide's place. I am here to help, so get your lacy panties out of a twist and let's go," I said nudging her.

She smirked at me as she slid out of the car and I followed after her. I hesitated and checked myself out in the side mirror of Alcide's truck, smoothing my hair down and making sure my face was free of sleep drool. Alcide suddenly seemed nervous as he straightened his shirt and beckoned us to follow. Sookie slung her purse over her shoulder and walked with a strong-minded stride, staying close to me though.

"I know it doesn't look like much, but Lou Pine's is the oldest were bar in Mississippi," Alcide commented as we reached the door, holding it open for Sookie and I.

Sookie slipped through first with me following closely after. I was immediately assaulted by the smell of liquor, musk, and smoke. The bar was full with men and women clad in leather and dark clothing. There were pictures of wolves decorating the walls and a pool table sat in the corner. Alcide was right, it didn't look like much. The door man, a young black man, who I assumed was also a werewolf smiled once he saw Alcide.

"Alcide!" he said joyously, remaining on the stool he was seated on, but shaking Alcide's hand. "It's nice to see a face from the old pack."

Alcide huffed, looking around. "Yeah well I figured the new wolves were drinking enough for all of us."

The doorman nodded, his smile faltering as he finally noticed Sookie and I standing beside Alcide. "Who are the civilians?" he asked.

"They are cool," Alcide insisted placing a hand on the small of my back, sending a delightful trail of fire up my spine. "They are….friends."

Sookie looked around uncomfortably. "Are we not…dressed properly?"

I looked down at her lacy white long sleeved shirt and her jean skirt. "I don't think we are Sookie," I mumbled.

"You two look like dinner," the door man replied.

My face fell and Sookie blanched. Not one ounce of me believed that he was joking.

"I will keep my eye on them, Hollis," Alcide assured pushing gently against my back to get me moving. "I promise."

Sookie grabbed my hand and held it tight as we moved deeper into the bar with Alcide at our backs. He stopped next to the bar, standing at our backs and tilting his head down to whisper. "We have to split off, if they see me with ya, they won't talk."

My heart started to race. I felt as if I was being thrown to wolves, which I technically was. "Where will you be?" I asked looking up at him in a panic.

"With my guys, but I will be close. I will be watching," he said looking deeply into my eyes. "Be careful." He turned to Sookie. "Make it quick for your own sake alright?"

Sookie nodded and Alcide walked off, looking back at me momentarily before turning back. Sookie moved forward, pulling me along as the energy began to well up inside of me. I had no idea what her plan was or how we were going to go about getting information. She was walking slowly toward a large group of leather clad men and once we were close enough she released my hand, looking over her shoulder at me and mouthing "play along".

_Shit._

Sookie giggled loudly, calling attention to the men of the group as she braced herself against the bar and twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. "Hey boys," she called as all eyes fell on her. "Oh my god I am so stupid. I left my wallet in the car and I am just parched! Would one of you mind buying a girl a cosmo?" she asked in her ditzy blonde voice looking around at them all.

The men seemed to encircle her like a pack of her hungry wolves making me move closer to her. "You hear alone cream puff?" one particularly large wolf asked looking her up and down. "Well you are stupid."

Sookie huffed and waved his statement away. "Im not alone silly, my friend Veronica is here with me," she said motioning to me as I looked at her in surprise. _I'm Veronica? _She grabbed my hand, pulled me closer and the large wolf licked his lips as he looked me up and down. "Besides we have been too much tougher places than this haven't we Veronica?" Sookie asked looking at me.

I hesitated, but nodded, trying to play along with her game. "Oh yeah," I said looking at the large wolf who was still eyeballing me. "Like that vampire bar in Shreveport called Fangtasia."

The large wolf frowned and the rest of them began grumbling. "Ya'll two some fangbangers?" he asked.

"Oh there's nothing meaner and stronger than a vampire," Sookie continued calling the large wolf's attention. "What's not to like?"

A tall skinny older looking werewolf rose from where he was seated, taking careful steps towards us as he gained Sookie's attention. I could tell Sookie was reading his mind, as she stepped towards him, her eyes scanning his face with that dazed look she got. "You would be surprised," he said to her.

Sookie continued towards him, making me feel uneasy as she went into his arms and placed her hand on his bare skin. _Sookie what the hell are you doing?! _ "Why don't you tell me about?" she enticed in a low whisper looking up into his face.

"Let's talk about it in private," the wolf countered.

"Sure," Sookie answered without missing a beat. "Why not?"

I felt my jaw drop slightly as the wolf grabbed Sookie by the wrist and turned for the back of the bar. Sookie looked back at me as I stared at her wide eyed, wondering just what the hell I should do. She didn't seem to be giving me the 'help me' look which made me think that the wolf must have known something about Bill. I wasn't going to let her go alone regardless and moved to follow when another tall wolf stepped in my path, blocking my view and smiling down at me like I was little red riding hood alone in the woods.

"And what about you sweet heart?" he asked in a low voice as the other wolves started to chuckle. "How about you come talk to me in private?"

"No thanks," I said with a frown attempting to side step past him.

He moved to follow blocking my path again, the smile disappearing from his face. "What if I am not giving you much of a choice?"

The energy that had been swirling tamely in my stomach flared up at his words, his threat made clear. My frown deepened. I didn't want to expose myself in front of all these werewolves, but if he laid one finger on me I wouldn't have much choice.

"Hey, she's with me, back off," came Alcide's voice.

I felt immense relief as he stepped through the wolves, coming to a stop at my side and wrapping his arm around me. The wolf frowned at Alcide, opening his mouth to say something when a blood curdling scream rang out. I felt my stomach drop and my feet were moving before I could even think about it.

"Sookie!" I screamed pushing past the wolves and rushing for the curtain in the back of the bar. I heard thundering footsteps behind me and hoped that it was Alcide following.

I burst through the curtain to find the wolf with his arms around Sookie forcing her down onto one of the black couches that lined the room. "Get the hell off of her!" I yelled rushing towards them and jumping on his back.

He released Sookie in surprise, throwing me off easily. I hit the cement ground hard, my vision blurring just as I heard more footsteps and Alcide's deep voice. "Hey Asshole!"

Soft hands were on me next as I struggled to make my vision clear. Sookie was pulling me to my feet, holding me tightly as I finally regained my sight and saw Alcide and the werewolf tumbling through the dark curtain.

"Alcide!" I called running forward, dragging Sookie along with me as we both paused in the doorway.

Two wolves had grabbed Alcide holding him tightly, allowing the wolf that had attacked Sookie a chance to deliver some good blows to his face. My stomach tightened as I frowned in anger, the energy rushing up through me as I stepped forward to help, but someone beat me to it. Hollis, the doorman, came to Alcide's rescue, hitting the attacking wolf in the back and knocking him down.

"God dammit!" he yelled stopping the fight in its tracks as he brandished the bat around. "I am going to run out of bats if he keeps this shit up! Get him the hell out of here! NOW."

The other wolves grumbled in response, moving to collect their friend. I rushed to Alcide's side where he was sitting up from where he had been dropped like a rag doll. He brushed me off as I tried to help him, shaking his head.

"I'm alright, Chase," he mumbled running his hand through his hair and taking a deep breath.

Hollis moved closer bending down on one knee next to Alcide. "Come on man, she isn't worth it."

Alcide huffed, looking at Sookie sideways. "I barely know her."

"I mean Debbie," Hollis said with a frown.

My eyebrows arched. _Debbie?_

"What about Debbie?" Alcide questioned.

Hollis sighed, looking away from Alcide. "Oh shit…"

Alcide frowned, looking up at Hollis expectantly.

"Debbie is getting engaged to Coot," Hollis answered.

Alcide looked disbelieving, shaking his head as it dropped. "Come on Hollis stop it…"

"The party is tomorrow night," Hollis continued. "Here…."

Alcide still looked as if he couldn't believe it, but the hurt was in his eyes.

"I'm sorry I had to be the one to break it to you," Hollis said with another sigh.

Alcide frowned looking over at Sookie who seemed to shrink in the doorway. I stood and moved to her side wrapping an arm around her. Alcide probably wouldn't have heard about the party at all if we hadn't come looking for Bill.

Alcide rose to his feet. "Let's get the hell out of here."


	7. Break Ups and Shake Ups

A/N: Yes I know I am far overdue for an update and I suck majorly. But its better late than never right?!

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Break Ups and Shake Ups

Alcide grunted painfully as I pressed the alcohol soaked gauze against the deep gash into the back of his shoulder blade. He growled deeply, turning his head to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry," I mumbled with an apologetic smile.

He sat on his king sized bed in his nearly bare bedroom inside of his nearly bare and not exactly tidy apartment. His shirt lay across the bed next to the medical supplies I was using to treat the wounds he had received from the fight at Lou Pine's. He held an ice pack to his ribs which I assumed were bruised and hopefully not cracked, like his ego seemed to be. He had been tense the whole car ride to his apartment not saying a word to Sookie or I. Once we had finally made it to his place we had followed him inside silently, not daring to comment on the state of his apartment. Awkwardness hung in the air despite Alcide telling us to make ourselves at home and for a long moment Sookie and I just stood in the foyer of his apartment watching him make a weak attempt to straighten up a little. I eventually offered to check and treat his wounds after I noticed him flinching in pain and he agreed.

"Alcide, don't take it personally," Sookie piped up from where she stood behind me, watching me play nurse. "The Were you were fighting had vampire blood in him…Bill's blood, so I know it's strong," she finished matter of factly.

Alcide looked at her incredulously and sighed turning his attention back to the wall in front of him. I gave Sookie a look, wishing for once that she could read my mind so that I could tell her to just keep her mouth shut. Way to add insult to injury. She smiled half-heartedly and shrugged, I know it was an attempt to make him feel better, but it was in vain.

"Werewolves doing V?" Alcide said with a huff, more to himself than to us it seemed. "That goes against everything we stand for. Is the rest of the pack into that shit?" he asked looking at Sookie.

Sookie nodded sadly. "Well…the ones who took Bill at least."

"Like I need more reasons to hate them," Alcide grumbled shaking his head. "Ouch!" he snapped as I applied the gauze to the gash again. His body moved forward away from me and he turned, looking at me irritably again.

"Sorry," I mumbled once more. "I'm almost done."

Sookie cleared her throat and moved closer to us. "The woman…Debbie…is that your ex-girlfriend?"

My head turned quickly and I met Sookie with a glare. She gave me that innocent look again with another shrug as I shot daggers at her. I didn't know what her deal was but she was bringing up things that definitely didn't need to be mentioned when Alcide was already wounded both physically and mentally. I didn't know if this was her idea at making conversation, but she was doing a horrible job picking topics. But I also could not lie and say that I wasn't curious to know who this Debbie woman was. Was she the girl that he was still hung up on? The one that had been ready to marry him before they split? I could see how hurt Alcide was when Hollis had told him the news. I practically saw the knife going into his heart.

Alcide finally answered her in a low voice, continuing to stare ahead. "She's my fiancée," he replied. "She moved out a month ago."

I felt my face fall as he finished that sentence. _A month_? No wonder things were so fresh. That wasn't very much time at all. Sookie didn't agree with me.

"A month? And you still haven't gotten new furniture?" she questioned looking around.

I gave her another look. "Sookie," I hissed. "Leave the poor guy alone."

"It's alright, Chase," Alcide cut in absently. "I don't have time to get new furniture. I am a busy guy you know."

Sookie continued with her third degree questioning. "Do you ever….hear from her? Debbie I mean."

Alcide sighed again. "My sister Janice does. She runs a beauty parlor. Debbie stills goes in and gets her hair done up."

The hurt in his voice was subtle, but I noticed it. I pressed my hands against the bare skin of his shoulders, wanting to comfort him the best that I could, but making sure to put my mental block up. He seemed to sense it, his head turning slowly as his brown eyes locked with mine. I felt a rush of heat burn through me as our eyes met, making me catch my breath as he gazed at me. I bit my lip to stifle any sounds that would betray me and attempted to smile. I removed my hands from his back as temptation welled up inside of me and reached for tape to secure the gauze. When I looked back down at Alcide I realized his eyes had never left me and he was still staring.

Sookie's cellphone snapped Alcide and I out of whatever trance we were in, making me turn as she rushed for her purse and retrieved her phone. "Excuse me," she mumbled taking the phone and rushing out of the bedroom. Seconds later I heard the front door open and close and guessed that she had gone outside for privacy.

The reality that Alcide and I were alone hit me and I looked down to find his eyes on me once again. I blushed crimson, trying to still my racing heart, and keep my breathing to a normal rate. I applied tape to the gauze covering his wound and smoothed my hands over it to make sure that it was flat and secure. Alcide's eyes still hadn't left me. My fingers brushed his bare skin as I flattened the tap and electricity rushed through my fingertips. I bit my lip again and took a step away from him, scared of the reactions my body was having to being so close to him.

"There you go," I forced myself to speak. "Good as new."

I realized that I hadn't put enough space between him and me as he rose to his feet, quickly towering over me, his body barely an inch from mine. My head craned backward to maintain eye contact with him and I felt my breath catch in my throat. He didn't move, only stood there, looking down at me, and burning me with his observation. Something shifted in the room and my heart was suddenly pounding and butterflies danced in my belly. _What the hell is happening?_ My brain was barely functioning as I searched for something to say and attempted to tell my limbs to move, to do _something_; but nothing was happening.

"Thank you," Alcide breathed. "For patching me up," he added as my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Oh…no…no problem," I said softly, amazed at my ability to finally speak. _God he's so close. _I could feel the immense heat radiating off his body. "I uh…I owed you anyway…"

The sound of the front door opening startled me, making me finally break Alcide's gaze and turn to find Sookie walking into the bedroom slowly with tears streaming down her face. I felt my face fall and I reluctantly moved away from Alcide to embrace her. She fell into my hug and sobbed into my shoulder as I held her, looking at Alcide who raised an eyebrow.

"Sookie, what's going on?" I asked as I smoothed her hair.

She took deep breaths trying to calm herself down as she pulled her head from my now damp shoulder and looked at me. "Bi….Bi….Bill bro…broke up with me," she sobbed, immediately going back into a sobbing fit.

I shared another look with Alcide who turned away from us and exited the room. I was in disbelief that Bill could do such a thing to Sookie. Their love was almost sickeningly real and true. I was envious at times of her because she had found a vampire that truly loved her and was willing to do anything for her. Something else had to be going on. I ushered Sookie to Alcide's bed and forced her to sit just as Alcide returned with a roll of toilet paper, taking off a couple of rows of squares and handing it to her. Sookie took them with a small whisper of 'thank you' and wiped at her eyes.

"What happened Sookie?" I questioned, sitting beside her. "What did he say exactly?"

"He said that he is only going to bring me suffering…and…and pain…" she took a few more deep breaths. "And that…he…he's Lorena…and he slept with her."

I frowned as my mind went back to that pale vampire that had attacked Sookie and I at Godric's house, Bill's maker. My fists clenched as I thought about that black eyed bitch. There was no way Bill could have said these things of his own volition.

"Lorena is probably controlling him," I offered trying to make her feel better. "Bill loves you Sookie. I know he does."

Sookie cried some more, wiping at her eyes again. "I know…something else has to be going on… He…he says he doesn't want to be found…what does that mean?" Sookie continued, wiping her eyes.

I hesitated not having a quick answer for that response, when Alcide piped up for me. "I'm pretty sure it means he doesn't want to see you anymore."

I frowned at him, definitely not the answer that I would have gone with.

"That isn't what he said," Sookie said quickly.

"Well then what did he say Sookie?" I asked.

Sookie seemed frazzled. "I don't know what he said, I just now that isn't the man I love."

Alcide huffed as he joined us on the bed, sitting beside me as he placed his elbows on his knees. "Well," he continued. "Maybe the man you love never existed outside of your head."

Sookie looked over at him in disbelief. I continued to frown at him as well. "Alcide, we are supposed to be trying to make her feel better," I sighed.

Alcide snorted. "All I know is, no matter how much you think you know someone, they can still turn around and kick you in the nut sack."

I knew that that reference must have been directed at Debbie. She had broken his heart after all and now she was getting married to boot. That had to be hurtful. And I was having no better track record with love and thinking I knew someone. Eric had done nothing but hurt me so far and every time I thought that he and I could have an semblance of a normal relationship and have him love me in return, he kicked me in my figurative nut sack. So I unfortunately had to agree with Alcide. Sookie on the other hand didn't.

"I don't have a nut sack and…Bill….he's….risked everything for me….our love is way bigger than him breaking up with me…over the phone," she sobbed. She was crying again, holding tissue to her eyes.

"Oh Sookie," I sighed placing my arm around her.

"How many relationships have you been in?" Alcide asked looking at Sookie.

She looked up, frowning at him. "What does that matter?" she continued to sob.

"Well all I'm saying is there's no nice way of getting out of these things," Alcide continued.

Sookie didn't seem to convinced and fell back into my arms, crying some more. All I could do was hold her as Alcide and I shared another glance. It seems we had come to Jackson for nothing and my trip away from Bon Temps would be cut short. I still was in shock that Bill would do this to Sookie, but each day I was learning that vampires really weren't that trustworthy and were probably incapable of true love. I hugged Sookie tighter as she cuddled into my shoulder and ran my hand over her hair. Alcide watched us for a moment as Sookie sobbed some more, dampening my shoulder with her tears, before he rose to his feet looking uncomfortable and unsure.

"I'm gonna give you guys some privacy," he said backing up slowly towards the door. "I will be in the living room if you need me."

"I'm the only one that needs privacy," Sookie piped up making Alcide halt. She straightened and wiped at her eyes some more. "Chase, if it's alright with you I just…need to be alone for a little while…"

"Oh…of course," I said quickly, pulling away from her and rising to my feet.

"Is this where we will be sleeping?" Sookie asked looking to Alcide for the answer.

Alcide nodded. "Yeah, I can sleep on the pull out couch. You guys can have the room."

"Okay, do you mind if I take a shower?" Sookie continued climbing off the bed.

Alcide shook his head. "No go ahead. Let me get you a towel."

He disappeared from the room leaving me alone with Sookie. I approached her cautiously, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Sookie, if you need me or to talk or just…be here you know that I will do that…"

Sookie nodded wiping at her eyes more as if her own tears were irritating her skin. "I know that Chase. I do. I just…need to think. And I don't want you to have to sit here holding me while I cry when you can be hanging out with Alcide."

I huffed. "Sookie, I think me being here for you as a friend is a little more important-."

"No, Chase, it's not. And if you are really trying to get over Eric then I think you should explore the other tall dark and handsome options in front of you. He likes you I can tell," she said managing to smile weakly despite the tears on her face.

The butterflies in my stomach fluttered at her words. I hoped that Alcide liked me. I did want to explore the other tall, dark and handsome options in front of me, but I was nervous. Everything with Eric was still so fresh and I was still hung up on him despite what I told myself. It almost didn't seem fair to Alcide to even try anything. Not to mention Alcide's engagement with Debbie had only ended a month ago. But was it fair to me to keep myself from exploring new things just because I wasn't completely over Eric? What if I never got completely over him? Then I would end up alone. That didn't seem like an ideal situation to me.

I shook my head. "I don't know, Sookie," I sighed.

"Trust me, Chase. He thinks about you a lot," Sookie divulged.

My cheeks flamed and I felt my jaw drop a little. "Sookie, you were poking around inside his head?"

"No, he was thinking about you so loud I couldn't help, but hear it," she replied with a chuckle.

I didn't get the chance to question her further about just _what _it was that Alcide thought about me, as Alcide strolled back into the bedroom, holding a towel and washcloth for Sookie. "Here you go, Sookie," he said handing it to her. "It takes a minute for the water to heat up and it don't last long so make the most of it while you can."

Sookie offered that same weak smile and held the towel to her chest. "Thank you Alcide."

There was a brief awkward silence as we stood there staring at each other before Sookie cleared her throat and bent to pick up her duffel bag. "Well I am going to take a shower and go to bed," she said walking towards the bathroom.

"I will be right in the living room if you need me okay?" I offered, hesitating in the doorway to the room.

She nodded absently, the weak attempt at a smile still on her face as she ducked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. I took a deep breath and made my way out of the bedroom, stopping in the entryway to the living room when I noticed Alcide rifling through a laundry basket in the corner. I watched as he pulled a white tank top from the clothes and slipped it on, turning to find me staring at him.

"Grab your coat," he said absently as he pulled a flannel shirt from the basket next and pulled it on his broad shoulders.

My face scrunched in confusion. "We're going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I'm starving and I'm sure you are too," he answered. "Let's go."

My stomach rumbled at the mention of food. I hadn't eaten since breakfast this morning in Bon Temps. I hesitated looking back at the closed bedroom door. "But what about Sookie?"

Alcide's eyes followed mine, staring at the door for a brief moment as he buttoned up his shirt. "She'll be fine. You heard her, she wants some privacy," he said with certainty. "'Sides you don't want to spend your time cooped up in this apartment."

I didn't like the idea of leaving Sookie alone, but he was right she had said that she wanted some privacy. But if she needed me I also wanted to be available to her. The only reason I had come to Jackson in the first place was to be there and support/protect her. My stomach turned uneasily at the thought of leaving her, but my heart fluttered at the idea of getting to spend some alone time with Alcide. Now was the prime opportunity to get over this fear-and Eric-and move on with my life, possibly with Alcide at my side. I wanted to explore new things and relationships and now was my chance. I was not going to let Eric or anything else for that matter hold me back.

"Okay, I would love to go," I admitted making Alcide smirk. "But let me at least write Sookie a note and tell her what's going on."

Alcide got me a pen and paper and I wrote Sookie a quick note letting her know we had gone out for a bite to eat and to call me if she needed anything. I pulled my coat on and followed Alcide out the door, butterflies swimming in my stomach. Instead of driving Alcide insisted we walk claiming that the diner he intended to take me to was not far at all. Two hours later I was full and hydrated. Alcide and I had decided to walk off our meal and we ended up circling a park a few blocks from his house.

"Well uh…looks like your trip is cut short huh?" Alcide commented with a smirk as he placed his hand into his pockets.

I shrugged halfheartedly and matched his movements, tucking my hands into the pockets of my shorts. "I suppose it is…I just wish it was ending on better terms with Sookie and Bill…I doubt this is what Sookie expected. She thought he had been kidnapped."

Alcide sighed. "Well at least Sookie finally can see that fanger for what he really is and move on."

"It's not always so black and white. You can't help who you love," I replied as Eric's face popped into my head. "And knowing Sookie this won't be the last that Bill has heard from her. She won't give up on him no matter what, even if it's what she _should _do."

Alcide looked disappointed. "Well then your friend isn't very smart. Can't keep hanging onto something that doesn't want to be hung on to."

"It's not always that easy," I countered shaking my head. "Sometimes you just…can't help it."

That's how it felt inside with Eric. I knew I shouldn't love him. I knew he was nothing, but trouble and that there would always be heart ache, pain, lies and secrets with him. But I loved him with damn near every fiber of my being. And though my mind knew better, my heart didn't know any better apparently. I looked up to find Alcide looking down at me thoughtfully and felt a blush touch my cheeks, he must have known that I was talking about Eric.

"That's true I suppose…" he admitted looking away from me finally. "To a certain extent."

I nodded slowly. "But on the other hand you are right...It probably would just be better for Sookie to leave Bill alone and move on with her life with a normal guy…but girls like Sookie and me aren't normal and that leaves us with few love options. So does that mean we are supposed to be alone forever?"

Alcide sighed, halting his footsteps and making me mirror his movements. He looked down at me disapprovingly. "Chase, just because you have these…. powers doesn't mean you have to start dating some fanger so that you can feel normal. You are better than that. You deserve more. And don't let anyone tell you any different. Any normal-or un-normal guy for that matter- would be lucky to have you."

I felt my cheeks flaming. "Alcide…" I started looking down.

His hand was warm as his fingers grazed my cheek, cupping my chin to lift my head. "I mean it, Chase. You may not be normal, but it doesn't mean you deserve any less."

Those were the nicest words a man had spoken to me in a long time. I felt my stomach flutter with emotions and so did my heart. If I hadn't already fallen for this tall, dark, and handsome man then I definitely was going to now. The fact that he still hadn't removed his hand from my face came to forefront of my brain and my neck leaned back so my eyes could meet his. I watched as the brown in his irises visibly darkened and he licked his lips as if he was gazing at some piece of delicious meat. My lips parted as I attempted to say something, but all that came out was a soft squeak. I froze as he took a step forward and our bodies touched sending a fire racing through me that felt like the heat of the sun. It was like we were right back in his bedroom again in that same moment, the air changing around us, leaving me feeling breathless. He was leaning towards me as I struggled for my brain to function.

_This is too soon._

_Oh no it's not. _

_I _need _this._

_He needs this._

_Both of our exes are jerks. _

_We just need to move on._

_Yes, that's what we are doing moving on. _

My thought war was over. It wasn't too soon. The obviously more rational side of my brain was right. I needed to move on. This is exactly what I needed. I needed a guy like Alcide; someone who was strong, sweet, kind, and honest. I shut my eyes in anticipation as I felt his nose touch mine. My heart felt like it was going to thud out of my chest. My fingers gripped the material of his shirt and I resisted the urge to pull him closer.

"I can't," Alcide sighed. "I'm sorry."

My eyes snapped open as Alcide withdrew from me shaking his head. He turned his back on me pacing slightly with his hands on his hips as I stood there crushed, my stomach slowly caving in. I felt like I had been slapped; like I had been offered something amazing only to have it taken away from me just as I went to grasp it. Alcide turned back to me as I struggled to keep the hurt from showing on my face. His apology, reluctance, and regret written all over his face.

"Chase, I am sorry, I want to-."

"Alcide, don't it's fine," I cut him off as I raised my hands. I attempted to smile. I wiped at my eyes quickly as they threatened to water. "It's okay. Really. Let's just go back to the apartment. Sookie might need me."

I turned and headed back in the direction of what I hoped was his apartment before he could get a word in. I felt like an idiot. I felt hurt. Hell, I felt like punching him in the face. I am sure he had a reasonable explanation. I am sure that it was not his intention to hurt me and he probably really did want to kiss me. The sexual attraction between us was undeniable. Sookie had even said that she heard it in his head that he liked me. I just didn't want to go through the awkward conversation of him explaining himself, of him telling me what I thought I knew already, that it was too soon.

Alcide didn't say anything as he caught up with me, walking at my side as we headed back to his apartment. I was thankful that it was a quick walk because the tension between us was so thick it was almost suffocating me. The silence lingered painfully. When we reached his apartment I thanked him for dinner and told him goodnight, escaping to his bedroom before he could even utter the beginning of a word. Sookie was thankfully already asleep as I shut the door behind me right in Alcide's face, not bothering to turn on the bedroom light and leaned against it trying to get a hold of myself.


	8. Dream A Little Dream Of Me

**A/N: I have returned with another update! There is a little Eric in this one. I am sorry for the delay, but I will not even insult you with excuses! Now on with the chapter! R&R **

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Dream A Little Dream Of Me

The moon was high in the sky as I sat on my front porch. The air was warm and there was a slight breeze. I hugged my knees as I enjoyed the nice evening, clad in my pajamas, my hair draping my face. I took in a deep breath of southern air and let it out in a slow breath, reveling in the beauty of the night when I heard the porch creak behind me.

I sighed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. I didn't have to turn to know it was Eric. I could sense him in the air.

"So the wolf hurt your feelings?" he asked. I could hear the smug smile that had to be on his face in his voice.

I didn't bother looking at him. "That is none of your business."

The porch creaked under his weight as he came closer. I could feel him looming over me. "You, lover, are my business."

"You are delusional."

"When will you realize that you belong to me and no one else?"

I huffed at the seriousness in his tone. I could resist anymore. I turned and looked up at him, catching his steely blue eyes gazing down at me. I tried to keep my senses about me as I felt that familiar wave of heat in me. "Eric, I am not property. When will you get that through your thick blonde haired skull? If you really cared about me then you wouldn't treat me like I was some…some...trophy," I snapped turning away and looking back at my front lawn.

Eric shifted and sat beside me, dusting off his dark jeans before settling his elbows on his knees. His smug smirk had remained. He seemed completely unphased by my statement as he looked at me. "But you are a trophy, Chase. The most exquisite trophy I have ever come across and have had the privilege to call mine. You shouldn't be angry about this."

I crossed my arms, refusing to fall into the trap he was trying to lay. "This is done and over with Eric. I can't keep doing this to myself."

"Doing what to yourself?" Eric questioned softly.

I took a deep breath again preparing myself to say what needs to be said. I forced myself to look at him. "I can't keep letting you hurt me," I said determinedly. "I need to be with someone….who won't hurt or lie to me and who will love me like I love them."

Eric frowned slightly before his cold fingers were on my cheek. I swatted his hand away and in a vampire second it was in my hair. He yanked me towards him, making me fall towards his chest. I didn't have time to catch my balance and found myself pressed against him. The hand in my hair pulled and my head was forced back. His lips were on mine next, making me moan in surprise as he deepened the kiss. I pushed against his chest in a weak attempt to push him away, but it was like trying to push a brick wall. He pulled away from the kiss making me gasp to catch the air that I had been deprived of.

"Dammit Eric, let me go," I growled, trying to push him away again.

He held me firmly, looking me in the eyes with a face full of seriousness. "You are mine, Chase Morgan. And no one else's," he stated as his grip in my hair tightened. "And try as you might you cannot escape me."

I watched as his fangs extended with a soft click. I was frozen. In a vampire second his head dipped towards my neck ready to sink his fangs in my flesh.

* * *

I woke up with a start, sitting up in bed. The sunlight pouring in through the window was blinding, making me raise my hand to shield my eyes. I looked around to find that I was in Alcide's bedroom alone with the door closed. I sighed and ran a hand through my tussled hair, lying back onto the pillows. It was just a dream. Clearly my subconscious was still attempting to work out my feelings for Eric. It was the first dream I had had about him in ages. I would have preferred it if I didn't dream about him at all, but I attributed it to the fact that we still shared a blood bond and my encounter with Alcide last night.

I considered getting out bed, but I was still exhausted. I had spent most of the night lying in bed next to Sookie amongst her damp tissues, thinking about my encounter with Alcide. I wasn't sure that I was ready to face Alcide just yet, but I refused to allow things to become awkward between us. It was probably better that we had not kissed. I did not want to rush into something only to be hurt again. He was a great guy and even if we didn't progress even further I would still want him in my life as a friend.

I was greeted by two female voices as I stepped out of the bedroom. One I was sure belonged to Sookie, while the other I did not recognize at all. I stepped into the entry way of the kitchen and saw Sookie sitting at the kitchen table, a tall, long haired, pierced, and beautiful woman standing next to the table, opening a make-up case as she chattered away.

"When you called I was checking my horoscope. Do you know what it said? 'Things are looking up for somebody close to you'. Nailed it."

She paused when she saw me, halting her steps as she took me in. I smiled nervously as Sookie jumped to her feet and approached me. "Oh Janice this is Chase, my friend that I was telling you about," she said wrapping an arm around me and bringing me closer.

Janice looked me up and down as if she had to memorize me for some test later, before nodding and smiling. "You were right she is more of his type," she commented absently as she smiled at me. "Nice to meet you, Chase. You are just a cute and sweet as Sookie here."

She extended a hand that I took cautiously bracing myself for the onslaught of images and memories that was going to come my way. Janice just so happened to be Alcide's sister. Sookie had called her to come over for some unknown reason. Janice was hoping and praying that one of us was here to start any kind of relationship with Alcide to get his mind off of Debbie. She thought Sookie was here for him at first, but Sookie had told her that it was me Alcide was after. She was pleased either way, she would have settled on a two bit hooker to get Alcide's mind off Debbie. I withdrew my hand away from her, forcing the smile to remain on my face as I looked at Sookie with a raised eyebrow.

"It's nice to meet you too, Janice," I said. "What's…going on?"

"Well I am kinda wondering the same thing. Sookie here called me because she said ya'll needed my help," Janice answered looking at Sookie. "I was a little surprised when she said she knew Alcide and was staying here. How do ya'll know my brother anyway?"

"Alcide is just helping me. We are all working together," Sookie commented.

Janice's gaze turned suspicious. "You don't look like you work in construction."

Sookie huffed. "We don't. Someone I care about has been kidnapped and Alcide has….inside information…about the people that took him."

One eyebrow on Janice's pretty face arched.

"I called because we need to get into Lou Pine's without standing out," Sookie finished.

Janice seemed to understand suddenly. "So ya'll need to look the part. Well that is my specially," she said determinedly.

I frowned at Sookie. I had no idea she had decided that we were going to infiltrate Lou Pine's- on the night of Debbie's engagement party no less- or for what really, but I assumed that this all had to do with finding Bill. I was pretty apprehensive. Our attempt at going into Lou Pine's the night before hadn't gone so well and I wasn't sure this time was going to go any better this time either.

"I'm sorry Janice; can I borrow Sookie for a moment?" I asked making sure to keep the smile on my face.

Janice nodded. "No problem."

I ushered Sookie toward the bedroom and led the way shutting the door behind us. I turned to her with a frown as she gave me this annoyingly oblivious look. I crossed my arms.

"What?" she said defensively.

"Sookie, what the hell is going on? I thought we were going back to Bon Temps today?"

"Why would you think that? I told you I came here to find Bill."

"You did that already. He is with Lorena. He broke up with you. We should be going home right now, not trying to infiltrate some party where we will most likely get our asses kicked, raped, or worse eaten by a werewolf."

Sookie frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Sookie, I think you need to just let Bill go."

Sookie looked at me in disbelief. "You sound like Alcide."

I blinked. "What did Alcide say?"

"Basically the same things that you are saying. He wants to take me back to Bon Temps and wants me to just forget about the man I love, but you of all people should know that I am not going to do that, Chase. Bill Compton can break up with me all he wants, but he better do it to my face. And I want to see and hear this for myself in person. Alcide wasn't thrilled with my idea either, but I need information and I am going to that engagement party with or without the both of you," Sookie said unwaveringly, crossing her arms.

I sighed and put my head in my hands. So Alcide was on my side about this. Sookie was so damn stubborn. "Fine, Sookie, you know that I can't let you go in there alone," I said looking back up at her. "But promise me that if we don't find out anything substantial or worth staying in Jackson for that we will go back to Bon Temps."

Sookie seemed reluctant, but she relented and nodded. "Fine, if we don't we can go home and I can continue my search for info from there."

_This is not going to end well_, I thought to myself as I looked at the blonde standing before me. _She is going to get me killed one day. _

"Now let's go," Sookie said turning and heading for the door. "It will be getting dark soon."

I frowned. "What time is it?"

"Almost 5 o' clock."

"Are you kidding me? I have been asleep all day?"

Sookie nodded. "Alcide and I didn't want to wake you. You seemed tired."

I shook my head in disbelief. How could I have slept all day and still be tired? Sookie turned on her heel and I followed her back out to see Janice pulling out her make over supplies. When she saw us she smiled deviously and put her hands on her hips.

"How deep do you want to go?" she asked.

"We want to look like we can kick some serious ass," Sookie said passing me a glance. "Which we can."

Janice's smile widened. "Alright, let's pick out some temporary tattoos," she said as she retrieved a binder from her bag. She turned back to us, her bright eyes landing on me. "So Chase….Sookie here tells me you and my baby brother have a little something going on."

I felt my cheeks flame and passed Sookie a knowing look. She only smiled at me. "Well I wouldn't get your hopes up Janice," I answered looking down. "He still seems like he is really hung up on Debbie."

Janice frowned disapprovingly.

"Yeah well it was probably him finding out about her engagement party that stirred things up," Sookie chimed in making me frown as well.

Janice huffed, leaning over to place the book in front of Sookie and I. "Yeah right, 'engagement party'," she incredulously.

"Excuse me?" Sookie said.

Janice seemed uneasy suddenly. "Oh uh yeah….that's right…engagement party."

Sookie and I both caught on to the fact that Janice was hiding something and I was back to wishing that I could read peoples thoughts with having to touch them. But I could tell from the glazed look that came over Sookie's eyes she was already reading Janice's thoughts. Janice continued to talk for a moment, but I was too busy watching Sookie to hear what she was saying.

"How did Alcide find out?" Janice asked finally catching my attention.

"Oh Hollis told him about it," I answered.

Sookie was still busy reading Janice's thoughts and before Janice noticed anything weird I decided to engage her in conversation. "Well if Alcide is still in love with Debbie maybe he should go to the party and-," I started.

Janice cut me off, picking out a temporary tattoo and beginning to apply it to Sookie's back. "No, he should not. My psychic told him point blank that if he stayed with her, she would get him killed. Did he listen? No. She ended up dumping his ass."

"Why did he stay with her so long?" Sookie piped up. She must have gotten all the information she needed. She was giving me a weird look.

Janice rolled her eyes. "She was his first love. He never met anyone so alive, all that shit. But how many bullets you gon' take for somebody? How many bad things gotta happen to you and the ones that you love before you realize that feelin' alive just ain't enough? I am just glad that he made it out alive," she finished with a shake of her head.

Her words resonated within me quite loudly. All I could do was sit there and stare off as my thoughts once again went back to Eric and I. Eric did make me feel alive, he had made me feel things that I had never felt before, but Janice was right. Feeling alive was not enough. I deserved better, just like Alcide had said and he should have believed that about himself too. While he may have loved Debbie, he was probably much better off without her at least according to Janice's psychic, and everyone else. But I also knew how hard it was to let things go, especially when you love someone so much. He and I were in the same exact boat.

"Well," Janice sighed coming towards me with a tattoo. "Let's get started on you sweet thang."

* * *

An hour and a half later I looked like a completely different person. Janice had worked her magic on Sookie and me. She had even given us clothes to wear, stating ours were too 'human'. A black haired A-Line styled wig sat atop my head. It had dark red highlights and was the main reason I barely recognized myself. It was such a drastic change from dark brown long hair. Black eyeliner lined my eye lids bringing out the grey in my eyes and deep red lipstick coated my lips. Janice had placed temporary tattoos all over my body; there were some on my legs, arms, and back. Sookie had claimed the leather pants before I could so I was left with an extremely short black leather skirt that I could definitely not bend over in; and a tight leather top that didn't go down past my belly button and pushed my boobs up to the point where it was nearly had to breathe. I didn't know how girls dressed like this and didn't manage to pass out. The thought of going out with so much skin exposed made me uneasy. There would be no protection from the onslaught of images that would be coming my way.

We had thanked Janice for all her hard work and when I offered her some money she refused it politely. She hugged Sookie and I and grabbed her suitcase full of supplies. She hesitated as she walked through the door, stopping and looking back at me.

"Give Alcide a chance," she said looking back at me. "He's stubborn as an ox and has a hard time letting go, but trust me when I say Debbie aint what he needs. He needs to move on."

I smiled weakly and nodded. "I will."

"It was nice meeting ya'll. I hope to see you again," she said with a small wave.

I went to the bathroom after the door closed, wanting to check myself out in the mirror. I was so surprised by what I saw that I was still staring when I heard the sounds of a key in the front door. I stepped out of the bathroom, trying to ignore that ache in my feet from the knee high leather boots that Janice made me wear, just as I heard the front door opening. I knew it was Alcide by the sound of his thundering footsteps. My heart started to race as I stopped in the bedroom doorway catching sight of Alcide stepping through the door, holding a new cast iron kitchen pan. He had been out shopping for kitchenware?

Alcide did a double take before his brown eyes fixated on me. His eyes widened immensely and his jaw dropped. I felt my cheeks flame and assumed I was turning as red as the lipstick coating my lips. I had expected him to be surprised, but not _this_ surprised. His eyes traveled from my head to my toes not once or twice, but three times making me feel as if I was a piece of meat and he was a hungry wolf. I didn't know what to do or say so I just stood there, probably looking like a slutty idiot, while he gaped at me. Alcide visibly tried to recover, closing his mouth first then trying to wipe the shocked look off of his face, which he failed at. He swallowed so hard that I saw his Adam's apple bob and cleared his throat.

"Chase…you…you look," he shook his head as if in disbelief. "Wow…you…..wow."

Sookie came up behind him before I could manage to say anything. "Oh good you are back."

Alcide finally tore his eyes away from me taking in Sookie's new biker appearance. He looked back and forth between us, lingering mostly on me, before he frowned and put his hands on his hips. "What the hell are you guys up to?"

"I called Janice to give us makeovers," Sookie said absently, waving his statement away.

Alcide huffed, a knowing look coming over his face. "Well I see she took to both of you."

"Debbie is getting initiated to Coot's pack and she's addicted to V," Sookie blurted.

"What?" I snapped with a frown. She definitely hadn't shared that information with me. It must have been something she had pulled from Janice's mind.

Alcide's face fell. "Shut the fucking door. Debbie's a blood head? How did you find out?"

Sookie hesitated. "I was poking around in Janice's brain."

Alcide looked as if he was going to be sick, turning around and tossing his new cast iron pan towards his kitchen table. It hit with a loud clang making me jump slightly. Sookie continued.

"Janice didn't tell you because she was trying to protect you."

Alcide huffed, looking at Sookie incredulously. "Well why didn't you let her?"

Sookie hesitated glancing at me almost apologetically before she spoke. "Because I know you still care about Debbie, no matter what she did to you, and I figured you would want to know if she was in danger."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. I knew where the apologetic look was coming from and what Sookie was playing at. She was tugging on Alcide's heart strings that were still connected to Debbie, even though she knew that he might have feelings for me and I had feelings for him. None of that seemed to matter to her in the grand scheme of finding Bill. I would have been more hurt if I hadn't partially agreed with Sookie. She was right. Alcide did care for Debbie and he would want to keep her from being in danger.

Alcide was working towards a fit of rage. He ran his hands through his hair as he turned his back on us again. He growled angrily. "She's going to let those fucking mongrels brand her!" he shouted looking back at us. "V is the only reason, it's gotta be," he reasoned.

"Of course it is!" Sookie agreed. "Maybe it's not too late for you to get through to her. And stop her from ruining her life."

Alcide growled again, turning quickly towards the wall and punching it hard. Plaster and dust fell from the new hole that Alcide's fist left behind. He sighed again, his hands going through his hair one more time, as he began pacing again.

"Does this mean you are coming with us?" Sookie asked making him stop and look at her. "We probably won't get in otherwise."

Alcide hesitated, his eyes falling on me, lingering for a long moment as I stared back at him blankly. "Fine," he said with a bite to his tone, looking back at Sookie. "But we are going to have to go in separately. You two may fool some with that get up, but they are just going to beat the shit out of me….again."

He stalked off towards his bedroom leaving Sookie and me alone in the foyer. She turned to me quickly and sighed.

"Are you mad?" she asked hesitantly. "About me using the Debbie card and all?"

I shook my head. "No, Sookie. Alcide isn't my boyfriend or anything. And he does care for Debbie and if us doing this will save her then…" I sighed. "Well then it's a good thing."

Sookie's head tilted to the side. "Well that… or he will see she is a lost cause like I am hoping and he can finally get over her and move on…hopefully in your direction."

I huffed. _A girl could hope. _"Let's not hold our breath."

* * *

Lou Pine's was packed. The music was loud. The place was crowded and the air was thick with the smell of cigar smoke and wet dog. I was regretting all the skin that was exposed on my body as another biker bumped into me and I was assaulted with another wave of memories, thoughts, and emotions. If I saw one more wave of sick thoughts and memories from another werewolf I was sure I was going to throw up.

Alcide had left our side the minute we had slipped through the unguarded door. Since the party was private, Hollis was not there, leaving Sookie, Alcide, and I all on our own. None of us had really come up with a plan and I wasn't sure if Sookie really had one, but I was following her lead. We circled around the bar once, Sookie's face scrunching up as she read the werewolves thoughts. After the first lap she looked at me with a frown, shaking her head before motioning for us to do another walk through. I tried to blend in and seem casual, ignoring the husky looks of the wolves watching me. I was relieved when Sookie finished another lap and stopped at the bar. My feet were killing me.

I leaned against the bar actually considering having a drink when I felt a pair of eyes on me. I hesitantly looked to my left to find the wolf that had attacked Sookie the night before checking my out. When his eyes locked with mine I could see a hint of recognition cross his face and his face scrunched with the effort of trying to remember who I was. _Crap._

I looked away quickly nudging Sookie as I leaned towards her. "We need to move _now_."

She looked at me slightly confused before noticing the wolf as well. "Yes we do," she whispered back.

She took my arm casually and moved to head towards the crowd in the middle of the bar when I felt a calloused hand take a hold of my arm. I froze as a wave of memories washed over me and one clear loud thought from the wolf popped into my head. _Damn she is a hottie. Looks kind of familiar….did I bang them? _ I withdrew from his mind with a gasp, trying to keep the fear from showing on my face as I turned to the wolf. I forced a smile on my face as he pulled me against his body, trying to play it cool, but I passed Sookie a panicked look. She looked helplessly at me and stepped closer.

"Come on darlin'," the wolf growled in my ear as he forced me to turn to the bar. "Have a drink with us."

"No thanks," I said carefully shaking my head.

The wolf frowned at me. Apparently he really could not take 'no' for an answer.

"Umm…I mean…Fuck yeah!" I said quickly. "Let's do some shots!"

The wolves grinned happily as Sookie joined my side. The wolf placed a shot glass full of dark liquid in my hand before passing one to Sookie as well. She and I shared a glance before she clinked her shot glass against mine and downed the shot. I followed her lead and downed its contents, almost gagging from the harsh liquid and the burn that came with it. I slammed the glass back down on the bar like I had seen others do and tried to look pleased, like I was a natural drinker.

"Another," the wolf demanded handing Sookie and I another shot.

I rolled my eyes and took the shot as commanded, shivering as it burned down my throat. I was feeling light headed already. I didn't even get the chance to try and make an escape as the wolf set another shot before Sookie and me.

"One more," he said with a big grin. "Third times the charm."

Sookie and I both hesitated, sharing another glance as the wolves began egging us on.

"Go. Go. Go. Go. Go!" They chanted, making a few others nearby join in.

Sookie shrugged at me before downing the shot making me follow her lead once again. The wolves cheered happily as I wiped at my mouth and turned to Sookie who was chuckling slightly. I could feel a buzz from the liquor already settling in and suddenly I wasn't so uneasy anymore. I was actually having _fun_ in that moment. I smiled at Sookie and actually let out a small laugh despite the situation we were in when I felt someone come up behind me.

"Who the fuck are you two?"


	9. The Breaking Point

_A/N: Here is another update! I hope that you enjoy it. Eric makes a brief appearance. Reviews are much appreciated. _

* * *

The Breaking Point

I felt myself give out a sigh. I was not in the mood for a fight. I turned around quickly; ready to face whatever was going to come my way, when I came face to face with a red head. I took a step backward when I saw just how close she was to me and frowned. I didn't know what to say, or who the hell she was, but I could feel the tension in the air. I was opening my mouth to lie about who I was and what I was doing there when Alcide appeared behind the red head.

"She's with me Debbie," he answered for me, making me look at the red head in surprise.

_This is Debbie?_ I couldn't believe that the scraggly looking woman standing before me clad in a leather jacket, bra, and mini jean skirt, was the woman that Alcide had fallen in love with. Just from the looks of her and the way she carried herself she didn't seem like she was worthy of him or any love he had to give. But from the look on Alcide's face I could tell that this woman was not the woman he had fallen in love with. The disgust, shock, and anger from the mere sight of her was written all over Alcide's face.

Debbie was looking stunned as she looked from Alcide to me and back. "What the fuck are you doing here, Alcide? You come here to rescue me? You thought this knight on a white horse shit would work? On me?" she asked incredulously.

Alcide still hadn't managed to wipe the look of disgust from his face. "What have you done to yourself?" he asked looking Debbie up and down.

"I finally got free of you!" Debbie spat in reply throwing her arms in the air. "And I've never been happier in my life!"

Alcide stepped towards Debbie. "I still care about you," he admitted, his face turning sincere and honest. I felt my heart sink in my chest a little. "If you go through with this the pack will never let you back in."

"I don't need your pussy pack!" Debbie shouted in Alcide's face making him frown. I saw the wolves next to me smiling proudly. "And you know what? I was fucking Coot when I was still with you," she gloated.

I felt my fist clench as I saw the flash of hurt go across Alcide's face. _How dare she? _I couldn't stop myself as I stepped forward, but I felt Sookie's hand on my arm. I looked at her as she shook her head. I restrained myself and crossed my arms, still fuming slightly from Debbie's utter lack of respect for the man who cared for her.

Alcide recovered quickly, anger taking over his face as he looked down at her. "This aint about us," he growled at her.

Debbie huffed. "Like hell! You came here and brought this skank and her friend just to make me jealous!" Debbie sneered turning to Sookie and I.

My fists clenched again as her eyes found mine and she looked me up and down with a huge frown. I resisted every urge in my body to punch her in her nasty mouth. "Skank?" I said through clenched teeth. "Well coming from you that's just funny."

"Chase!" Alcide snapped behind her.

I ignored him as Debbie stepped closer to me and I felt the energy within me surge through my body. My fists clenched even tighter making me feel pain as she and I stared each other down. All I need was on reason to unleash the energy that was burning through me.

She chuckled in my face. "Oh no, you did not just say that to me at my own fucking party," she snapped.

My anger was beginning to get the better of me. "Look, Debbie, Alcide came here despite all the _good_ reasons he has not too because he still believes that the woman he loves is inside of you somewhere. Probably _deep deep _down, but still in there. He's willing to risk his life for you _still_, because he wants you to hold onto her, even if he doesn't get to be with you," I said heatedly.

Debbie's face softened and I looked behind her to find Alcide gazing at me with an odd expression. The words may have been true, but they were bitter as they came out of my mouth. Alcide should have been moving on. He should be with someone that deserved and reciprocated his love because he was a great man who was worthy of a good woman. Not Debbie. But she was the woman that he loved and I couldn't stop the way he felt about her, no more than anyone could stop the way I felt about Eric. If he was willing to give Debbie another chance then it was his choice.

Debbie turned back to Alcide as he looked away from me and back down at her. His face softened as he stepped toward her. "It isn't too late," I heard him say softly. "We can get out of here right now."

Debbie's lip trembled as she looked up at Alcide and I could see her contemplating it. I felt my own stomach churning as I waited for her to give a response. She would be stupid not to go with Alcide, but I couldn't lie and say that a large part of me wished that her stupidity continued and she refused him. She got no chance to answer though as a man approached us and put his arm around Debbie. His eyes looked Alcide up and down.

"What the fuck is this?" he asked looking at Debbie and then Alcide again.

I could see Alcide trying to control his anger. "It's just a conversation Coot."

I felt surprise hit me again. The man before me was handsome, but he was nowhere near Alcide's match.

"Well she's done with you," Coot replied as he looked at Debbie for confirmation. She nodded obediently. "She found herself a real wolf."

I huffed loudly in disbelief making Coot turn on me. "Who the fuck is this?" he asked looking me up and down.

"This is Alcide's new bitch," Debbie replied, clearly her stupidity had won her over and the bitch in her was back.

My teeth clenched and the energy in me swelled, almost breaking free of my hold. Alcide rushed forward as he saw me about to explode and stood in front of me protectively. "Leave her alone," he growled down at Coot.

Coot chuckled and removed his arm from Debbie, stepping towards Alcide. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. Let's do this shit," he said cracking his knuckles.

Alcide swelled, suddenly looking even larger as he stepped toward Coot, baring his teeth. I was moving to get between them when Debbie beat me. "Leave him alone, Coot!" she said pulling him away. "Let him stay."

Coot shook his head, his eyes still on Alcide. "No fucking way."

"He needs to see this. He aint never gonna let us be baby, until he understands I am with you for good," Debbie continued turning to Coot as she smoothed her hands up his chest.

Coot looked down at her huskily as she gazed up at him. His arm came around her as he bent to capture her lips, both of them hungrily attacking each other's mouths. I almost gagged in disgust as I shared a glance with Sookie. I looked to Alcide next who was watching them with a pained look of disgust. My heart hurt for him. He finally turned his back on the sight, beginning to move towards the exit as Sookie and I started to follow when a loud cheer made us all stop.

We turned to see that Debbie was in the air now, surfing the hands of the crowd as they moved her to the stage in the back of Lou Pines. Sookie turned to me as we watched Debbie climb onto the stage clad in only her bra and panties now. They must have stripped her on the way to the stage.

"Coot," Sookie said looking at Alcide and I. "He is one of the wolves that took Bill."

"Are you sure?" I asked looking at Sookie in surprise.

She nodded. "I saw it in his head. He was feeding on him."

We looked back to the stage to see a man walking up behind Debbie holding up what looked like a real fur blanket. He was unbelievably pale and wearing sunglasses.

"Who is that?" I asked leaning toward Alcide.

Alcide seemed confused as he watched the man place the fur on Debbie's back. "Russell Edgington," he answered. "He's some…antiques dealer here."

The cheering grew louder as Russell forced Debbie to her hands and knees. He raised his hands and the crowd immediately went silent, everyone except Alcide, Sookie, and I kneeling before him. He surveyed the crowd as he began speaking in some foreign language that I didn't recognize. When he finished his short speech the crowd responded in unison and I could feel the anticipation in the room intensify. Russell smiled at the crowd before opening his mouth to reveal his fangs extending making Sookie and I gasp in surprise.

"What is a vampire doing in a werewolf den?" Sookie asked.

"Why are they submitting to this fanger?" Alcide asked aloud.

We watched silently as Russell bit into his wrist making every wolf in the room lick their lips hungrily as they shift anxiously. Two wolves came forward holding trays of empty shot glasses that Russell held his wrist over letting the blood flow into them.

"Oh my god," I said as my eyes widened. "He's the one giving them the V."

Alcide looked on in shock. "Hoooollllllyyyy shit."

The two wolves began passing out the shots to the crowd as Russell turned to Debbie who was looking at him and the blood as if she was going to burst if she didn't get any. He shook his head at her as he looked down at her sadly.

"Oh not tonight pumpkin," he chided as she frowned up at him. He pulled a white handkerchief from the inside pocket of his coat. "Otherwise your brand won't last."

Russell wiped his mouth and held his hands out while the wolves in the crowd each received a shot glass. The anticipation in the room amplified as the wolves looked down at the shot glasses hungrily. Russell smiled at the crowd as his fangs retracted. "Tonight, you continue the grand tradition of expanding our pack," he said addressing the crowd. "My small contribution is but a token of my appreciation for our collaboration throughout the years."

The crowd cheered loudly in response, arms going in the air and wolves jumping up and down. I looked to Alcide confused. I may have not known much about werewolves or their history, but I knew that vampires and werewolves did not get along. And judging from the confused and infuriated look on Alcide's face he didn't understand why werewolves had been working with this vampire 'through the ages'.

Russell held his hand out to the crowd and the wolves raised their shot glasses in unison. Russell's smile grew and he gave the crowd permission to drink. The wolves downed the contents of their glasses quickly, shivering in delight before they all laughed in pleasure. Russell laughed as well looking on the group proudly as Sookie, Alcide, and I continued to watch in stunned silence.

"This is nuts," I whispered shaking my head.

"What the hell is going on?" Sookie mumbled in response. "This ain't right."

Russell cleared his throat and straightened his jacket. "Well I will leave you all to celebrate."

The wolves whooped and hollered as Russell made his exit. I suddenly felt very uneasy as the crowd continued to holler and get antsy. Coot and two wolves climbed on the stage, the two wolves grabbing Debbie as Coot slipped behind stage. He emerged from the backstage with a branding iron; the end was still burning hot. The crowd continued to cheer as he approached Debbie maliciously and she gritted her teeth in anticipation of the pain. Alcide growled beside me and I heard his knuckles pop as his fists tightened. Debbie's scream could have broken the sound barrier as Coot branded her with a sickening smile on his face. I smelt smoke and burning flesh and tore my eyes away from Debbie's pained face.

Alcide sighed beside me, shaking his head. "Stupid bitch," he muttered sadly.

Coot tossed away the branding iron as the crowd continued to cheer and holler. Debbie fell face first to the ground, groaning in pain.

"This is so fucking wrong!" Alcide growled.

Something in the air shifted and I could feel a tension rise again as Coot ripped his shirt off, howling at the ceiling. The crowd howled in response and the sound was deafening. The unease in me grew as I felt whatever had taken over the room grow. It was like there was energy in the air, and I could feel my own energy swell in response. Something told me that whatever was about to happen was not going to be good for my health. I looked back to the stage and felt my face fall as I watched Coot shift in to a large black wolf. His wolf form was nothing like I expected. It wasn't like in the movies. It wasn't some large scary looking weird wolf creature; it was a beautiful animal, like the ones from the wild. I looked at Sookie to find her staring at Coot in wolf form, her shocked expression probably matching the one on my face.

"Chase…" she started slowly as she took my hand and held it tight. "Maybe we should get out of here…"

I couldn't have agreed more as I looked back at the stage to find the black wolf was now atop a speaker and he was howling again. The minute his howl echoed in the room I felt the energy in the room amplify and my skin crackled in response. The wolves in the crowd began howling and ripping off their clothes, shifting into their wolf form as the sound of breaking glass filled the air. I looked around in a panic.

"Oh my god. Are they shifting?" I asked looking to Alcide.

He didn't look at me. He stood beside me stiff as a board, looking pained. He let out a pained moan and I saw his fists clench. "You have to get out of here," I heard him growl.

"Alcide," I started grabbing his arm.

He swatted my hand away as he turned to me. I recoiled from him as I saw his eyes glowing yellow.

"Chase, run."

I still couldn't move. I was frozen in shock and fear as I stared at him.

"Run!" he growled angrily.

I finally heeded his warning and turned on my heels, running for the door as I dragged Sookie behind me. I barely kept myself from tripping over my own feet as I burst through the entrance door of Lou Pine's regretting the decision to come here at all. I heard Sookie's panicked breaths behind me as we ran through the parking lot, reaching Alcide's truck. I sighed in relief when I found the doors unlocked and climbed into the driver's seat. Sookie climbed in the passenger seat and we slammed the doors shut, locking ourselves inside. We both sat there, breathing heavily, our hearts pounding as I stared out the windshield. I wasn't sure what to do, but we didn't have very many options. Alcide had the keys and there was no way we were going back inside. All I could do was hope that we weren't going to get eaten by wolves.

"What the hell was that?" Sookie asked looking at me.

I shook my head, still trying to catch my breath. I really didn't like the idea of running in heels ever again. "I…I don't know…but that was dangerous…really freakin dangerous. We could have been killed Sookie!" I snapped looking at her.

"I know," Sookie sighed pulling the black wig off her head to reveal her pinned up blonde hair. "I'm sorry, Chase."

A knocking on the window startled me, making me turn to find Alcide standing outside the driver's side door. I looked at him in surprise, but unlocked the door, scooting over to allow him to climb in. He didn't say a word as he pulled out his keys quickly and shoved them in the ignition. He started the car and sped out of the parking lot, the tires screeching and the work truck shaking.

"Alcide, what is going on?" I asked. "What happened in there?"

"It's the call. It's hard to refuse," Alcide growled, not bothering to look at me.

"You almost shifted," Sookie commented.

"I couldn't help it. The energy starts rolling and it takes over," he grumbled. "You are lucky we got out of there alive," he finished with a snap as he passed us a glare. "Fuck!" he shouted slamming his hands on the steering wheel.

The truck jumped as we went over a bump in the dirt road that Alcide had pulled on to. He was speeding as if we were running from something and it was making me nervous. Sookie hurriedly put on her seat belt beside me and I did the same, looking at Alcide to see his teeth gritting. He was gripping the steering wheel so tightly so that his knuckles were white. I gripped the edge of the seat as we hit another bump.

"Alcide, you should really slow down."

"Shut up, Chase," he snapped at me, making me frown.

"I know it was terrible for you, but-," Sookie started.

Alcide glared at her, cutting her off. "You don't know anything!"

"Well I know that if you don't slow down you are going to kill us! And I am not going to die because of your shitty girlfriend and a Mississippi pothole!" Sookie shouted back angrily.

Alcide slammed on the breaks, turning the steering wheel as we swerved to the side of the rode. We came to a halt with a loud screech of the tires. Alcide turned off the car and continued to finger the steering wheel. Silence hung in the air as we all tried to recover from the series of events that we had to deal with that evening. I was still confused about some of the night's events, but the one thing that I knew for sure was that what was happening with the wolves was not good. And somehow Bill was in the mix. And once again I had thrown myself right into the middle of the danger for Sookie Stackhouse. I kept telling myself that I was done with the danger and the drama, but I was always putting myself right back in because I felt some sick sense of loyalty and obligation for Sookie. But I was tired of it. I was tired of almost dying and the vampires and now werewolves.

"I'm sorry," Sookie said breaking the silence and looking at Alcide. "What I said…I had to be mean to make you stop."

Alcide was still staring ahead, lost in thought. "She wasn't always shitty…" he said slowly and softly. His fingers played at the steering wheel. It seemed like he was talking to himself more than us. "We were great together…when she wasn't drinking or cheating…She'd play horse shoes with my dad and help my mom plant tomatoes…" he shook his head slightly as he finished as if he couldn't believe what Debbie had become.

"But tonight she was half naked on a stage getting branded," Sookie commented.

"Sookie," I snapped.

Alcide huffed. "No, Chase, it's alright. She was…" he replied still staring off. "She really was…"

"Tell me more about Russell Edgington," Sookie demanded turning in her seat. Abruptly changing the subject.

I rolled my eyes and put my head in my hands. _Here we go again..._

"He's just some rich vampire. That's all I knew until tonight," Alcide replied absently.

"I have to talk to him," Sookie said.

I felt my face fall as I turned to her in shock. "Sookie have you lost your mind?" I snapped.

She looked at me as if she didn't understand why I was upset. "The brand? The blood? The vampire? He knows where Bill is. Or he knows who took him." Sookie reasoned.

"And I don't give a shit, Sookie," I snapped in response. "I am not going to go and get mixed up with _more _vampires _and _werewolves for _your_ shitty vampire boyfriend who dumped you! You may be willing to die for Bill freakin Compton, but I am _not_, Sookie. I have my own vampire and werewolf problems to deal with and instead of doing that I am here in Jackson almost dying because you! Or have you forgotten that someone or something is trying to kill me?! So please Sookie just let it go! I am getting real tired of this stupid crap. And I will not be dragged in even deeper!"

Sookie fell silent, her mouth hanging open, staring back at me stunned as I finished my rant. I was breathing heavily from the exertion of yelling and the anger that was burning through me. I had meant every word and it was about time that Sookie heard it. I was tired of putting my life on the line for other people. I was not going to do it anymore no matter how much I cared for Sookie. If I continued to allow her to drag me into her problems she would be the death of me I was sure. It was time to put an end to it.

* * *

The car ride back to Alcide's place was tense. It was so thick in the air that it could be cut with a knife. Sookie hadn't said a word to me since my outburst and I hadn't said one word to her. A part of me felt bad because I knew that her feelings were hurt and she probably felt betrayed, but the other part of me didn't care. She needed to hear it and I needed to stop throwing myself under the bus for other people.

I retreated to the bathroom the moment we walked through the door, retrieving my duffle and towel first, and turning on the shower. I shed the leather clothing with much relief and climbed into the hot spray, letting it rain down on my head. I scrubbed at my skin with Alcide's harsh soap, trying to peel the night's events from my body, but I still felt shaken even as I rinsed myself off. I was still mad at Sookie and the situation and I still felt tense. I felt the walls were closing in on me. I stood under the spray trying to take a moment to escape from the world that seemed to be crashing down on me when I heard my cell phone ringing.

I frowned and shut the shower off, stepping out to retrieve my phone. I did not recognize the number on my screen, but I also did not have any contacts saved in my phone aside from my parents, Sookie, and Alcide. I hadn't had the time to give my number out to anyone before I left for Jackson.

"Hello?" I answered hesitantly, wrapping my towel around myself.

"Good evening Lover."

My teeth gritted at the sound of the velvety voice and I leaned against the bathroom door with a sigh. My blood began to boil as it pumped through my veins and I considered hanging up. I was not in the mood to deal with Eric. He was the last person that I wanted to be speaking to at the moment.

"Are you alright?" he asked, after my lack of response.

"Why do you care?"

"We have been over this. I have felt some weird emotions coming from you," he answered with a hint of irritation in his voice.

_Damn that stupid blood bond_. I hated that we were still connected that when I just wanted him out of my life. He was like a disease that had infected me and I just couldn't be rid of him.

"Are you sure they are mine, and you aren't just confusing them with the other girl you conned into drinking your blood?" I snapped back.

"Excuse me?"

"What do you want, Eric?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"To know if you are alright, Chase, as I stated previously in the form of a question."

"Well why don't you just stop acting like you care about how I am doing and leave me alone, Eric."

"My, my, my, you are in a catty mood, Lover."

"Stop calling me your lover!" I shouted, surprising myself. "I am done playing games with you, Eric. I am done being your toy. I want you out of my life. I don't need your help. I don't need your money. I don't need _you_. So instead of bothering me why don't you just go and continue to pursue Sookie. If you haven't heard she's single now so you can have your first choice. Stay the hell away from me."

I hung up before he could get a word in and slammed my phone down on the counter top. The energy had risen up in me during my speech to Eric and was rolling through me in waves, pulsing with each breath I took. I felt full with it, like if I didn't let some out I would burst. I looked around the bathroom to find that everything that was not bolted down was floating in midair just like before when my mother had told me I was adopted. I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself, but it didn't work. I needed to take a walk. I need fresh air. I needed time to myself.

I snatched my duffel from the air and everything floating around me dropped to the ground. I dressed hurriedly and picked up everything that had fallen, putting it back in its rightful place. I grabbed my duffel and escaped from the bathroom, hesitating for a moment when I saw Sookie sitting cross legged on Alcide's bed wiping the make-up that Janice had applied from her face. I avoided eye contact with her as I placed my duffel in the corner and left the bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I made a beeline straight for the front door and was stopped by Alcide.

"Hey, where you going?" he asked stepping in front of the door and blocking my path.

"Alcide, please move. I need some fresh air," I said as calmly as possible. The energy was still surging through me. I clenched my fists.

"Chase, I can't let you go out there-."

"Alcide," I snapped looking up into his brown eyes. "I am a big girl and I just want to take a walk alone. I don't need or want company. Please. Just. Move."

Alcide frowned down at me, but stepped aside, allowing me to move past. I walked as quickly as I could through Alcide's apartment building, almost running until I reached the fresh southern air. I had hoped that it would calm me down and stop the feeling of claustrophobia that seemed to be setting in, but it didn't. I felt the same, like the walls were closing in and my power was going to explode out of me. I was panting. Was I having a magical panic attack?

I began walking briskly toward the same park that Alcide had taken me to, hoping that it would be empty in the late hour and I could be alone. It had taken Alcide and me twenty minutes to get there and I had made it in ten. I felt no better as I walked the path and took deep breaths, still attempting to calm myself. I found a nice patch of grass and sat down with a heavy sigh, placing my arms around my knees and tucking my head into the space.

"Get it together, Chase," I commanded myself. "Pull yourself together before you level this park and expose yourself, or worse hurt someone."

Giving myself orders helped nothing. I still felt as if I was going to burst. I rose to my feet, intending to walk some more when a bright light erupted behind me making me freeze. I turned slowly, raising my hand to shield my eyes from the light, when I saw a figure emerging. The energy swelled at the possibility of danger and I had to clench my teeth and fists as I strained to keep it at bay. I lowered my hand as the white light dissipated and felt my face fall when I saw Connor standing before me looking concerned.

I couldn't even begin to adequately describe how surprised I felt to see him standing there, but the energy in me immediately died down. I felt happy suddenly and rushed towards him, jumping in his arms as he hugged me tightly. I felt safe in his arms; like I was two years old again in one of those memories that I had seen in his head. Safe and happy and with the only person I knew truly loved and cared for me.

"I am so happy to see you," I breathed feeling tears stinging my eyes.

"Chase, are you alright?" he asked, pulling back to look me in the eye. "I know I said I would stay away until you called me, which you haven't, but I just felt that you were….troubled."

_Oh I am troubled alright_. "I am…not fine," I admitted looking up at him as some tears escaped my eyes. "I am very far from fine."


	10. Setting It Straight

A/N: Sorry for the delay. You dont care about my excuses I am sure! Just enjoy the chapter and leave a review! :) It's kind of filler, but things will pick up next chapter I promise.

* * *

Setting It Straight

The cup of tea was warm in my hands. I turned it back and forth nervously as I looked at my father who was busy adding sugar to his own tea. After I had spent a few moments crying my eyes out on his shoulder he had walked me to the very diner that Alcide had taken me to the night had rejected me. He plopped me down into a booth, ordered tea for the both of us, reminding me a lot of my adopted mother, Mary. He remained silent as I composed myself and forced calm upon myself. He didn't push, he didn't question, he just waited. When the waitress brought the tea, he offered me the option to order food, but the thought of food alone made my stomach churn. I was too frazzled to eat.

We sipped our tea in silence, until he looked at me expectantly, but patiently. "I would ask how you have been…" Connor started slowly setting his cup down. "But I can see that it hasn't been…'well'…"

I huffed and took the first sip of my tea. "I have been…in a whirlwind of trouble…"

"You want to tell me what's going on? Or why you are in Jackson?" he probed cautiously.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. This was going to be a long story. "For you to fully understand everything I would have to start from the beginning," I replied.

He leaned back in his chair and took another sip of his tea. "I have all the time in the world, Chase."

I started slowly; beginning first with where my life had taken a drastic turn: my best friend Cassandra's death. Connor listened to me unwearyingly as I told him everything that had transpired from my first night at Fangtasia to the moment where he had found in me in the park. I glossed over the parts that he knew about; skipping over my ordeal with Charlotte and straight to when Annabelle had come looking for Dominic. By the time I had finished the waitress had come to refill our tea's twice and an hour had passed. I had poured my heart and soul out to my father and it had been the first time that I had truly told my story to anyone aside from the brief excerpt that I had told Alcide. It had felt good to talk about it. It had eased the uneasiness in my stomach somewhat, but it didn't change the fact that my feelings were hurt. That I was done with Eric. That I was done with the danger and the drama with Sookie. That I felt as if the world was crashing down on me and felt I was close to a nervous break down. That I wanted nothing more than to be _normal_.

Connor had remained silent while I spoke, only gave a nod or two to indicate that he was listening. When I finished talking he was frowning. I waited anxiously to hear what he had to say. I half expected to hear an 'I told you so' in regards to my situation with Eric. He had warned me after all, but I was too dumb to listen. Too deep into my feelings for Eric that I was blind to the truth. However to my surprise he didn't, he reached across the table and placed a warm hand on mine, squeezing softly as his frown turned to a weak smile.

"When I gave you up and bound your powers I wanted nothing more than for you to have a happy and normal life, free from vampires, magic, and everything else that is supernatural. If I would have known that this is how things would have ended for you I would have never let you go," Connor said thoughtfully with a sigh as he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table.

"Trust me this is not what I wanted for myself," I replied. "Everything in my life was pretty normal and then I went to the vampire bar and suddenly my best friend is dead, vampires are after me, I started developing new powers and my life just turned to…shit."

"And now there are werewolves after you?"

"The ones that worked for Dominic are certainly trying to take me."

"To who?"

"I don't know."

Connor rubbed his chin thoughtfully before crossing his arms. "And how do you know that the werewolves that took your friends boyfriend aren't the same ones looking for you?"

I hesitated. I hadn't given that idea much though. Sookie had warned me in the beginning that the wolves may have been after me too; but I barely knew Bill, what would him being kidnapped have to do with me?

"….I don't… but I don't see the connection."

Connor weighed my answer for a moment. "And there is also the possibility that the vampire authority may be looking for you as well?"

"If Annabelle told them that she thought I was the one that killed Dominic or had something to do with it then yes. Eric definitely seemed to think so."

"And you have no way of knowing if she did or not."

"Right."

"And the werewolf…you got nothing out of him before you…" he trailed off looking around the diner to make sure there was no one eavesdropping. "Killed him…?"

I looked down as I thought back to the sight of James' dead body lying in the woods across the street from my house. "No, I didn't…"

Connor sighed and shook his head, cupping his chin as he gazed past me. I could see the gears turning in his head as he thought my situation through. I took another sip of my tea and wiped at my sore eyes that I was sure were puffy and red. Connor seemed to come up short on an answer to my situation as he changed the subject.

"And Eric…" he started slowly.

I swallowed hard.

"You think that he is in love with your friend?" he finished with an arched eyebrow.

"I think that he is a manipulative lying asshole that likes things that are special and Sookie is special," I answered with a shrug. "I don't know whether or not he loves her, but he does have feelings for her."

Connor looked puzzled. "As much as I hate to admit it, Chase, I would swear that he cared for you more than anyone. He must be one hell of an actor, because he had me completely fooled. From an outside perspective I couldn't say he doesn't…love you."

_Those are not words that I need to hear right now_, I thought bitterly. "Eric cares for me because he sees me as valuable. He protects me because like I said before he values special things. I am special, so he likes to know that I am safe."

Connor looked disapproving. "Perhaps it is time that we unbind your powers."

"You think so?" I asked him hesitantly.

"If you are truly done with Eric, which you should be, then you will need to be able to protect yourself. You still have abilities with them bound, but if you are going to have werewolves- and most likely vampires- after you, you will need your full power. With the bind in place you will always feel weak when you use whatever power has managed to slip through, which can get you killed."

"I used to be able to read thoughts just fine and I never felt weak. Then I started developing these new powers and…." I trailed off. He knew the rest.

"Well I can tell you what happened to make you start developing new powers," Connor said pushing his now empty cup away.

Curiosity took over my face. "Really?"

He nodded. "It was the vampire blood."

My face fell a little. "What do you mean?"

"Vampire blood makes witches magic stronger, just like it makes a normal human stronger. You are already powerful enough which is why the bind is weak and some power- your telepathy- seeped through in the first place. But the minute you ingested Eric's blood it started breaking down the bind even further," he explained. "The more blood you ingest, the stronger you are, the weaker the bind gets while the vampire blood is in your system."

I sipped more tea as I took that information in. I had never even considered that it was the vampire blood that was changing me, even though now it all made sense. The first time I had drank Eric's blood something had happened to me, I had had some sort of vision and felt intense power. It also wasn't until after I had drunk Eric's blood that I had developed the telekinesis. And when I drank Godric's blood I had used a lot of power and hadn't felt weak after. It all made sense now.

"Well you won't have to worry about me drinking anymore vampire blood," I replied setting my cup down. "And I don't think that I am ready for my powers to be unbound. If I want some sense of normality I need them to go away actually."

Connor smirked. "Chase, you have let them out of the bag. And given that even as a child with only pre-developed powers I could not bind your powers fully then I don't think that I could do it now, especially since you have ingested vampire blood."

I frowned at him. "So I am screwed then?"

"Not screwed," Connor contradicted. "Special."

"I don't feel very special. I can't control what is happening to me. Earlier I got so upset and I felt like I was going to…to…I don't know…explode!"

"Chase, you are a walking, talking, unlimited power source. Most witches would kill to have that kind of power. The only way to control those feelings is to learn how to control your powers…which I think it is time for you to do."

I sighed and put my head in my hands. I didn't want to unbind my powers. I wanted nothing more than to just be normal. A regular powerless human girl. But just like Eric had so forcefully told me the other night on my porch, I was not normal, not even anywhere close to normal. I may not have been ready, but Connor was right; with vampires and now werewolves after me I would need to be able to defend myself. Alcide would not always be able to protect me and I didn't want to even be in the same area code as Eric, so that left me and me alone to protect myself. It was time that I got over my idiotic wish to be normal. I needed to face the reality that I was not and accept it.

"So how do we do this?" I asked looking back up at Connor.

"Well we definitely don't do it here," Connor said with a smirk.

"In Texas?"

"Somewhere private is definitely in order," Connor answered. "Just releasing the blind can trigger your powers. There is no telling what will happen. I don't want to expose you or worse, hurt anyone."

"Well I can't just leave with you tonight," I sighed. "I need to go back and talk to Sookie and Alcide. At least tell them goodbye."

"We can do this on your schedule, Chase. It truly is up to you. If you want to keep your powers bound then I will not stop you. But if you are in danger then I think that you should use the natural gifts given to you to protect yourself," Connor reasoned.

"I am planning to go back home to Bon Temps tomorrow. You can come meet me there and we can do it then?" I offered.

Connor nodded. "Whatever you would like."

"It won't hurt will it?"

He chuckled lightly. "No, not at all. You should feel better than ever actually."

"And what will I be like after?"

Connor hesitated, shrugging. "I honestly can't tell you, Chase. But at least you will be able to protect yourself."

* * *

Connor finally convinced me to eat something. I was not hungry even though I hadn't eaten since the day before. My stomach was still uneasy despite the fact that I had calmed down and the energy in me had died down long before. I attributed it to bad nerves and put it to the back of my mind as I ate a full plate of breakfast food, which left me feeling nauseous by the time I was done.

I changed the subject from my damaged existence and began to question Connor instead; asking him what he had been up to without having to worry about Charlotte trying to murder me anymore. I was happy to hear that he had rejoined society. His father, my grandfather, had owned a successful national construction company in Texas and when he died Connor became the sole owner. He was still young at the time and wanted nothing to do with his father who he had been estranged from since he was a young boy. He also had just become a father and was the only thing standing between a vampire and his daughter. He only took advantage of the wealth that came with being the owner of the company and left all other decisions up to the board, using the money to build a home in a secluded area to raise me in and take care of his daily needs. Now that he did not have to worry about Dominic or Charlotte anymore, he had taken his place at the head of the company and was learning the business. It had not been that long since he had seen me, but I was still happy that he had begun to live his life. And I hoped that he would continue to. He deserved it.

When I was done eating he walked me back to the very park he had found me at, which was the safest place for him to teleport from. It felt weird to say goodbye to him again, the same feeling of losing something creeping up in my stomach just like last time. I promised to call him tomorrow when I made it safely back to Bon Temps and I was ready to unbind my powers. He seemed reluctant to leave me, warning me to be careful in the meantime, but hugged me nonetheless and disappeared in a flash of white light. Even though I felt much calmer I still was not ready to face Sookie or Alcide and found myself circling the park.

My mind kept going back to my outburst at Sookie and then Eric. As much as Eric had deserved my rage fueled outburst, Sookie hadn't deserved it as much. She did indeed deserve a portion of it, but not the full lashing that I had given her, and definitely not in the tone or decibel of voice that I had given it in. She had been nothing, but a good friend to me, but I still had resentment towards her. For the way that she made Eric feel about her and how I foolishly followed her into dangerous situations. I couldn't place all the blame on her, I did have a choice and I chose to follow her, but it was clear that I needed to distance myself from Sookie and all the danger. I had my own problems to deal with and couldn't let myself get sucked into hers anymore. I didn't want to stop being her friend, but I did need to put some distance between her problems and mine.

"I was hoping that I would find you here."

The voice was familiar and made me stop in my tracks. I turned slowly to find Alcide approaching me, looking quite casual in a pair of blue sweats and a white tank top. He smiled at me cautiously, probably worried that I might still be in a bad mood, and slowed down. I softened my face and attempted a smile, which seemed to make him relax.

"You mind if join you?" he asked with a small shrug.

I beckoned him closer with a wave of my hand, turning and continuing what had to be my 3rd lap around the park path. He caught up with me quickly, walking beside me in silence. I found his presence comforting and was glad that he had come to find me. He had let me go when I knew that he didn't want to and I respected him even more for that. Eric would have stopped me and forced me to talk or not go. Alcide had given me time to myself which I really needed.

"I am sorry about snapping at you earlier before I stormed out," I said looking up at him. "You didn't deserve that. I know you just want to keep me safe. Which I appreciate very much."

"I knew you needed some time to yourself to calm down. I could feel how tense you were. I thought you were going to level my apartment with all the energy I felt inside of you."

I looked at him curiously. "You could feel my power?"

"Animals have a heightened sense of awareness and can sense and feel things that humans can't. Being a werewolf means I have that heightened sense of awareness too."

"Well that's cool."

"Being a were has its perks. Are you alright now though?" he asked, his tone turning serious.

"Yeah I am feeling a little bit better," I said shoving my hands in my pockets. I decided to skip the part of telling him about my biological father who can teleport. Alcide had, had enough mind boggling events for one day. "I just felt like I was going to explode in there. I am not always in control of my power. I didn't want to hurt or destroy anything."

Alcide huffed, shaking his head in disbelief. "I am still getting used to the idea that people can even have powers."

"Says the guy who can turn into a wolf," I countered with a smirk.

Alcide chuckled again. "Touché…you and Sookie going to be okay?" he asked me hesitantly. "She was real worried about you. Said she heard you yelling at someone on the phone…"

"That was Eric," I replied absently, crossing my arms over my chest. "And Sookie and I will be fine. I am going to talk to her. I was a little…harsh to her after the whole Lou Pine's thing. But I can't get dragged into her drama when I haven't even fixed my own yet. Sookie is the closest thing to a best friend I have these days, but…I just need to distance myself from her and her crazy drama filled world and figure out my own stuff…."

"Well that I can definitely understand. I don't think she wants to cause you any trouble on purpose, but when it comes to that fanger of hers she is a little blind to what she gets herself and others into," Alcide replied.

"Tell me about it."

"So you want me to take you back to Bon Temps tomorrow then?" he asked reluctantly.

"Yes…I am ready to go home."

"And what about your…vampire and werewolf problems?"

"Don't worry about me, Alcide. I am a big girl. You aren't my body guard anymore remember?"

"Yeah, but I am your friend right?" he asked looking down at me.

"Yes, you are, but…I have been saying for far too long that I need to learn how to take care of myself," I answered with a sigh. "Ever since Cassandra died there has been danger knocking on my door every day and someone has always come to my rescue and what if one day no one shows up? I need to be able to fend for myself."

Alcide stopped walking with a heavy sigh, grabbing my hand and making me halt as well. He didn't let my hand go as he stepped closer to me and looked down at me with a serious expression. The butterflies fluttered around like a mad frenzy in my stomach and heat rushed through me at the close proximity of our bodies.

"Chase, I care about you. Knowing that you could be still in danger and taking you home to be alone and fend for yourself doesn't sit well with me. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Alcide that is very sweet, but what are you going to do? Drop everything here and move to Bon Temps to protect me? I don't think so," I countered crossing my arms over my chest. "You can't watch me every second."

Alcide frowned. "I just don't like it."

"Most men don't."

He smirked at my remark, but the smile only lasted a few seconds before he was serious again. His hand was still holding mine, warm and calloused, sending sparks through me. I looked up into his eyes, trying to shake the breathless feeling that washing over me as we made eye contact again.

"Chase, about the other night-," he started slowly.

I didn't need him to elaborate. I knew exactly what night he was talking about. I really did not want to relive the moment again and cut him off quickly. "Alcide, it's okay," I said raising the hand that he was not holding. "I completely understand. It was too soon-."

"No, it wasn't…well a little, but I wish I wouldn't have stopped myself," he cut in making me fall silent. "I wanted nothing more than to kiss you, Chase. I really did. And I stopped all on account of Debbie. Which was real foolish, especially after what I saw at Lou Pine's. I can't keep letting her hold me back, especially from what I really want."

His hand left mine and went to my cheek next, his thumb brushing my skin gently as I looked up at him. I didn't know what to say to him. His words were echoing in my head as I stood there frozen. I wanted him to kiss me in that moment, to make me forget about Eric and Sookie and everything else. I wanted to get lost in him and never find my way out. But I was leaving in the morning and I wanted so much more than a one night stand for my next relationship. I deserved more than that and so did he. I didn't expect him to drop his life in Jackson and follow me to Bon Temps no more than he would expect me to. There was so much going on in my life that I didn't know if indulging in my feelings for him was such a good idea any more. I needed time to find myself and solve all my problems before I could even think of starting a new relationship.

I sighed and broke eye contact, reaching up and placing my hand over his. "Alcide…. I can't…the timing is just…." I shook my head and looked up at him. "There is so much going on... and I want too. I hope you know that. I really, really, want too," I breathed with a sigh. "But honestly I have no idea what is going to happen to me in the next few days and…" I broke off as I looked away from him.

"Chase, it's alright. I understand," he replied, surprising me. "I just wanted to apologize."

"There's no need Alcide," I assured. "If it was at any other time in my life then…." I broke off again. He knew what I was going to say.

His thumb continued to brush against my cheeks as he looked down at me. "I know the timing sucks."

He placed his forehead against mine, bending a little so that he could reach me. The heat in me amplified and I pressed my body into his, wanting to feel his warmth against me, missing the touch of a man. His arm came around me tightly, muscles flexing against my back as he pressed me against him so that there was no space between us. I sighed at the feeling of longing that swept through me, my mind racing with the thoughts of what could be. But it wasn't fair to either of us. I didn't want to rush into another relationship, sexually or otherwise, not so soon. I just couldn't. I turned my face away from his and shook my head.

"I'm sorry, Alcide," I breathed against his shoulder.

I felt his hand in my hair and his lips against the side of my head. "Don't be Chase."

We stood there for a moment longer, pressed against each other, before Alcide finally withdrew from me. "It's getting late. Let's get you back to the apartment."

I nodded and allowed him to lead the way, walking closely beside him. We made it back to his apartment building sooner than I had expected and by the time we reached his floor I was feeling ready for bed. We took the stairs when we realized that the elevator was out of order, much to my dismay. Alcide stayed right next to me, holding a protective hand against the small of my back as though he was afraid I was going to fall down the stairs.

I was the first to reach the landing of his floor and I was also the first the see Debbie pacing outside of his apartment door. I hesitated and turned back to Alcide, who frowned at the sight of her, her back still to us.

"Shit," he muttered. "Stay here, Chase."

I nodded and allowed him to move past me, staying put like he had ordered. I wondered what she was doing there. Had she changed her mind? Realized just how stupid she was and came back to accept Alcide's offer. The thought alone made my fists clench so tightly my knuckles popped. I watched as Alcide moved forward, making sure to stand in front of me, blocking my view of her and her view of me. I turned my back on the situation.

"Debbie, what the hell are you doing here?" Alcide growled angrily.

"Oh thank god. Where the hell you been?" I heard her question desperately.

"What the hell are you doing here Debbie?" Alcide retorted, ignoring her question.

"I came to warn you. You can't tell no one what you saw in Lou Pine's tonight. You-," she broke off making me turn to see that Alcide had shifted, allowing her to see me. A giant frown came over her face and she looked from me to Alcide and back. "What the fuck is this?" she shouted gesturing to me.

"Keep your goddamn voice down," Alcide snapped moving in front of me again. "You are going to wake the damn neighbors."

"I don't give a shit about the damn neighbors! I come here to try and save your life and this is what I find?" she snapped. "You spending time with some tramp?"

"Liar! Drug Addict! You sold your soul to a vamp! I saw you," Alcide growled irritably. "Just get out of here, Debbie. Go crawling back to your vamp and shitty pack."

"Oh he's more than a vamp!" Debbie spat back. She seemed frustrated as she turned her back on Alcide. "You are such an ignorant red neck!" She turned back to Alcide looking desperate. "If he knew what you saw-."

"Fuck him!" Alcide shouted making her jump.

Debbie frowned. "I'm warning you. If _anyone_ finds out what happened in Lou Pine's-."

The sound of Alcide's apartment door opening made Debbie halt and we all turned to see Sookie stepping out into the hallway cautiously. Debbie's face fell again and she turned back to Alcide before looking from Sookie to me and back to Alcide.

"Oh hell no…what the fuck is this?" she shouted again. "Which one of you bitches is fucking my wolf in _my_ house?!"

"Okay I have had enough of this shit," I said finally stepping out from the protective wall that was Alcide. Debbie turned to me in surprise. "Nobody is fucking your wolf, although I could be."

"What did you say to me whore?!" Debbie shouted lunging towards me.

Alcide came to the rescue before I could stop her. He grabbed her in a bear hug, holding her firmly. "I'm still strong enough to throw you out of here! Blood or no blood!"

"Your stupidity knows no bounds," I continued looking into Debbie's face of fury. "You traded this good person that loves you for some damn V, the stupid brand on your back and idiot redneck biker who is half the man- and _wolf_- that Alcide is. You have no one to blame for Alcide 'fucking' or being with anyone else but yourself, because you are the one who threw him away!"

My words had gotten to Debbie. She was practically turning red with anger as she struggled against Alcide's hold. "I will fuck you up! I will cut you!" she threatened.

"Alright that's enough! Chase, back off. Go in the house with Sookie. I need to get her out of here," Alcide said releasing Debbie long enough to take her by the arm and drag her towards the stairs.

I didn't move from the spot that I stood, my eyes locked with Debbie as we stared daggers at each other. It wasn't until she was out of my sight that I finally relaxed and let out a deep sigh. I reached up and rubbed my weary eyes with my fingers when I felt a hesitant hand on my shoulder.

"Are you alright, Chase?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah I am fine. Just tired. Let's go inside."

I shrugged off her hand carefully and headed into the apartment, my feet aching from all the walking I had done. I went into the bedroom feeling Sookie's presence behind me. I sat on Alcide's bed and began pulling off my shoes as Sookie leaned in the doorway.

"Chase…I think we need to talk," she said hesitantly.

I huffed. That was an understatement. "Yes, Sookie, we really do."

She came towards the bed and sat down with a heavy sigh, looking at me cautiously. I curled my legs before me sitting Indian style on the bed as I looped my hair behind my ears. Her brown eyes were on me, anticipating that I start this much needed discussion.

"Sookie…I owe you an apology for the way that I yelled at you earlier. I am very sorry that I was so harsh…but everything that I said in the van was true and I meant it. I could have told you in a very different and nicer manner, but it needed to be said. I value your friendship and I feel this weird obligation to make sure that you are alright and to be by your side especially after all that we have been through, even though we haven't known each other long. But I can't do that anymore. I have my own problems to deal with. I can't keep putting my life on the line for you and Bill and Eric and everyone else. So I am going back to Bon Temps tomorrow and you are going to have to continue your search for Bill on your own or with Alcide's help if that's what he wishes," I explained, hopefully sounding as sincere as I intended.

Sookie was frowning slightly, but she nodded. "I'm sorry too. With Bill going missing and everything then that phone call and what we saw at Lou Pine's I just know something more is going on. And I _have_ to find out what is going on."

"Well you cannot do that at the expense of other people, Sookie. The only life you should put in jeopardy is your own," I replied shaking my head.

Sookie seemed taken aback by response, her eyes dropping. "You know that I would never intentionally want any harm to come to you."

"I know that, Sookie."

"I wish you would stay, Chase. I only want you here because I trust you and I know you would have my back in any situation. I am not trying to take advantage of you I swear. I hope that is not what you think, because I would never do that to anyone. I just…like having a trust worthy friend around who can understand the things I am going through," she admitted turning to face me on the bed and pulling her legs up underneath her.

"I don't think you are trying to take advantage of me, Sookie," I replied. "I understand where you are coming from… but I hope that you understand that I just… can't."

Her frown deepened just a bit, but she nodded. "I understand, Chase… I hope when all this vampire and werewolf stuff is over we can start over? Try and be _normal_ friends?"

"You have no idea how much I would love that…" I answered actually allowing a smile to form on my face.

"Did you get a chance to talk to Alcide tonight?" she asked suddenly changing the subject. "He's been thinking about you loud and clear, just kickin' himself for not kissing you the other night."

I rolled my eyes. It was damn near impossible to keep anything from her. "Yeah, he and I talked and we came to the conclusion that now just isn't the right time for either of us. It's too soon. We both want to move on, but honestly I value Alcide too much to use him as a rebound or a one night stand."

"Who says it will just be a one night stand?" Sookie countered. "It doesn't have to be. He cares about you a lot."

"I am sure he does, but what is he going to do? Just up and leave Jackson and move to Bon Temps? How on earth could we make it work? It just wouldn't right now…" I answered with another sigh, beginning to fiddle with the ends of my hair.

Sookie didn't seemed convinced of my logic. "Chase, if this is cause of Eric-."

I threw my hair over my shoulder as I felt anger creeping up in my stomach. "This is NOT because of Eric," I snapped cutting her off. "This is because of me and my decisions and feelings. Eric Northman has no say or influence on anything that I do anymore. He and I are done. Actually we are past that. We are WELL done. Burnt. Crispy. However you want to describe it. But we are through."

A wave of surprise had come over Sookie's face during my mini rant, but by the time I was finished with my proclamations she looked unconvinced once again. "Okay, Chase….none of that is important to me though just as long as you and I are still friends and you are happy…"

I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm the anger that was threatening to take me over again. I urged a small smile to come onto my lips as I looked at her anxious blond framed face. "We are still friends Sookie. That has not changed," I assured. "And I will be happy when I am back home in Bon Temps."

I hoped that, that was true.


End file.
